Hogwarts: Just a Fantasy
by Anne-girl1
Summary: *COMPLETED AND UPDATED* The sequel to my other story: Scope for Imagination. I wrote this for fun!
1. Chapter One

1 Chapter One  
  
I checked off another box.  
  
"Ah, ha! Only five more days till the next Harry Potter book comes out."  
  
I twiddled with my moon charm necklace, looking at it admiringly.  
  
"Hello Anne," I whispered, "I miss you."  
  
I still could not believe I had met her nor gone back in time with my friends. I wonder if I could do it with other books too. Hmm, nah, just a coincidence.  
  
It was late May in my freshmen year. It had been a good five months since the knock on the head and zoom to Avonlea, but I had not gotten over it. I still read the books like crazy, understanding them in a different way than I used to.  
  
My current liking is Harry Potter. Not very similar to Anne of Green Gables, but still fascinating. I would have loved to fly and to cast spells on people (especially Mike).  
  
"Hey, book-worm! It's time to go to choir rehearsal!" Melissa screeched up the stairs. I parted from my room and jumped down the stairs, thinking excitedly about what the new Harry Potter book might look like.  
  
Back at school. Ecchh, Thursday. There should be a law against having school after having choir rehearsals the night before. I greeted Sara and Mell in the library as usual.  
  
"Good morning all!" Sara exclaimed.  
  
"Why so happy?"  
  
"Oh, nothing. I just Lord of the Rings for the third time and Elijah Wood is soooo cute!"  
  
"I know, I know." Mell said. She turned to me. "She hasn't stopped since we got here."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Well," I said, looking up at Sara, "That doesn't beat my record of seeing Harry Potter in the movies four times! Ha!"  
  
"You're a bigger fan of Harry Potter than I am! Besides, I've read the books just as much as you have."  
  
"Eight times?"  
  
"Well, um…yeah!"  
  
"Sure…"  
  
"I did!"  
  
"OK, I believe you."  
  
"So, you gonna go to Harry Potter times now that it's you're new obsession?" Sara teased.  
  
"All right, so you don't believe me that Anne actually happened. You'll just have to trust me on that one."  
  
I could tell she was about to protest, but the bell rang and I raced, giggling down the stairs and towards Civics class.  
  
Lunch.  
  
"Hey, Mike. We're so not even."  
  
"Oh, yeah, we are."  
  
"No, we're not. And even if we were, I could get you back. You are so easy to tackle."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"Just a question, have you ever read Harry Potter?"  
  
"Yeah, hasn't everybody?"  
  
"You mean you actually read a book?" I looked at him in disbelief.  
  
"Yeah, so?"  
  
"So, it's a start on getting you to read more."  
  
"Um, I'm gonna leave now."  
  
I shook my head at him.  
  
After band, my last class, I hurried out to the bus. It was sunny out and the sun was really, really bright. I squinted to find my bus number, fumbling with several heavy books in my arms as well as my flute. Sara, I thought, was behind me and I kept walking, talking nonchalantly. As I reached the curb, I looked around and saw that she wasn't there. Feeling like an idiot, I stepped backwards and tripped on the curb. My books flew everywhere and I fell backwards, feeling the concrete hit me in the back of the head. Everything went black. It was happening again. 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
A whistle sounded. Afraid to open my eyes, I thought, oh, no, I missed the bus. But when I did open my eyes, I found that it didn't matter.  
  
I was lying on a cobblestone walk under a sign that said, "Hogwarts Express, Platform 9 ¾."  
  
"Aw, jeez," I moaned, looking up at the sign. I looked around at everything else. There were probably thousands of kids in groups surrounding this huge silver and red train engine that said on the front: Hogwarts Express. All of a sudden, a cart ran out of the wall next to me. I screamed. Slowly, I stood up, my knees shaking. I gazed at the trunks around me. They all said, "Ann Victor" on them, including my address. My REAL address back in Fairfield, Connecticut. Weird.  
  
"Excuse me, do you need help with your luggage?" a voice came from behind. I spun around. It was Sara. She grinned at me.  
  
"Oh, thank God," I said, gasping with relief, "I thought I would have to do this one alone."  
  
"Nope," she said. "This is just like in Avonlea."  
  
"Wait, you remember that?"  
  
"I do now. Remember we're in your fantasy again. So I remember."  
  
"Oh. Ok." I started to believe NOTHING would surprise me after this, NOTHING.  
  
"Come on, I've already got my stuff on board and Mell's waiting in our seats."  
  
"Mell's here too?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Yes!"  
  
We grabbed my trunks, wondering what on Earth could be in them and dragged them to the train steps. It took a while before we heaved them up the steps and put them in the luggage cart. Finally, we collapsed into our compartment with Mell.  
  
"Hey, I just bought all the candy they could possibly have on this train, so we won't go hungry."  
  
My stomach growled.  
  
"Bless you, Mell," I said, before diving into the pile on the seat. I took a seat across from Mell and stared out the window. This was even stranger than being in Avonlea. I had never been over seas before in the first place and second, this was an entirely-well--different place. Some students were in long billowing robes and pointed hats, some carrying owl cages. There were cats of every color you could imagine, prowling around on the ground. Then I thought of something.  
  
"What year are we in?"  
  
"Hmm?" Sara looked at me, munching on a Chocolate Frog.  
  
"I mean, we're fourteen, but it would be impossible for us to be in fourth year at Hogwarts."  
  
"Maybe we know more than we think we do." Mell swallowed.  
  
"Well, why don't we just see when we get there."  
  
After a while, the train began to move. I watched out the window again and saw a red-haired lady and what seemed to be her daughter waving frantically at the train. They were smiling and yelling out good-byes. I smiled; I wonder who they could be?  
  
It was rather cool in the train. I wrapped my sweatshirt around me more tightly. I looked down at my clothes and realized they were the same as when I was in Fairfield.  
  
"Aren't we supposed to change clothes, like we did in Avonlea?"  
  
"No, thank God," Mell said, "At least here they have real clothing."  
  
I laughed.  
  
About a half-hour later, the compartment door opened and Mike walked in.  
  
"It's about time," Sara looked at him.  
  
"Sorry, I got lost," he said, twiddling his thumbs.  
  
"How do you get lost on a train?"  
  
"Well, it's different on a wizard train."  
  
"Sara, you knew he was here?"  
  
"Yeah, everyone who went to Avonlea will be here."  
  
We finished off the candy in the next hour, due to Mike who had been starving. We had fun eating the Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. This time, everyone had read the book and we knew how everything went. I tasted the corner of a light brown one.  
  
"Hey, I got lucky this time. It's chocolate." I popped it into my mouth and tasted the creamy chocolate running down my throat. It was so good. Mell coughed.  
  
"I didn't get lucky. Ear wax."  
  
There was a round of 'eeww's.' Sara got liver and Mike got grass. Mell tasted again and got caramel.  
  
"All right!"  
  
Finally, after about three hours, the train started to pull to a stop. Our bags magically appeared at our door, so we were able to pull on our uniforms. Yes, uniforms. I was so excited as I pulled on a Hogwarts skirt, a Hogwarts vest, a Hogwarts robe, and a Hogwarts cloak for cold weather. It was raining steadily when we got out. We knew our trunks were being taken upstairs by someone else. Then I heard a familiar voice.  
  
"First years! First years this way!" Hagrid yelled. He looked the same as in the movie. I grabbed Sara and Mell's hands and dragged them over. Hagrid had a list in his hands.  
  
"Excuse me," I asked, "Is there a Ann, Sara, Mell and a Mike on that list?"  
  
He looked.  
  
"Why, yes, there is, come on now you four."  
  
We followed down a slippery path of grass and mud. It was too dark a night to see anything, save the lantern that Hagrid carried. We slid through the rain to a dock where a dozen or so boats were docked.  
  
"Four to a boat, only four to a boat!" we heard Hagrid's rough voice. The four of us took a boat.  
  
We rowed across the lake and reached a long set of stairs. The group climbed up, breathlessly, as the rain beat down on our heads. Eventually, we reached the top and Hagrid pulled open the door.  
  
"Here's the first years, Professor McGonagall," he said.  
  
I peered through people, eventually jumping up and down to see the professor. A tall woman with dark hair and hawk-like eyes stood at the doorway. We were brought inside to the warm castle.  
  
"Finally." Sara whispered, rubbing her hands together.  
  
We entered into the cavernous entrance hall. There was the grand staircase and the big doors to the Great Hall. But we were led into a smaller room off the big one. It was round with several torches lighting it. Professor McGonagall faced us.  
  
"Now, in a few moments you will go into the Great Hall to be sorted into your houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. Try to neaten yourselves up a bit, please. I will come back for you in a minute." And she left.  
  
We stood around rather nervously. I stared around at the other students, praying.  
  
"Yes!" I hissed, under my breath. I saw the back of a kid's head. He had a black disheveled hair and was rather skinny and short. He was talking to another back of a kid's head with red hair, who was taller and gangly. Wow, he was almost as tall as Mike and that was saying something. I told this to Sara and Mell and they peered over to the two boys.  
  
"Yup, that's definitely them," Sara bent over to us.  
  
"How can you tell?"  
  
"Well, it's kind of obvious when they just turned around and you can see his scar plain as day."  
  
I jumped up and looked. Yeah, it was Harry. I got all excited and started jumping up and down. I wonder if I'm still fourteen or if I dropped a few years when I got here.  
  
Then all a sudden, about six ghosts appeared from the wall. Several students screamed, as well as Mike, who clutched my shoulder. I gasped, then glared at Mike, who was white in the face. I grinned sarcastically at him.  
  
"Whatever is the matter, Mike, you look as if you've just seen a ghost."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
The ghosts passed without a word to us, speaking among themselves about Peeves of course. Then one of them, probably the Fat Friar, noticed us first years.  
  
"Ah, are you the first years?" Some of us nodded.  
  
"Well, I hope to see you in Hufflepuff. My old house you know." He grinned at us jovially.  
  
"He's so cute!" I whispered to Sara. She nodded, smiling at the little old man. Then the ghosts disappeared through the opposite wall.  
  
After a few minutes, Professor McGonagall came back.  
  
"And now," she said, "it is time for the sorting." 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
We were brought back into the entrance hall with Professor McGonagall. I shivered with excitement and nervousness. I knew I'd probably be in Gryffindor because it was, of course, my fantasy, but even so I felt this creepy-crawly feeling up my spine about going up to that chair by myself and having everyone watch me. Sara and Mell couldn't wait. They were jumping up and down.  
  
"Wouldn't it be so cool to be in Slytherin?" I heard Sara say.  
  
"What?" I turned around in disbelief.  
  
"Well, I mean, kind of like a spy-for-the-good or something like that. I could transform them all. A hero in the dark."  
  
"Ok," I turned around, raising an eyebrow, but I had to admit, it sounded cool.  
  
We reached the set of giant doors. Professor McGonagall slowly opened them and the sound of students talking and laughing filled the air. We walked in a single file line. I felt invisible behind Mike, whose red head stood above everyone else's in the first years. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we looked upon the Sorting Hat. It looked so old and disgusting that any Muggle would not want to put it on. But we knew better.  
  
Professor McGonagall took out a list after the usual Sorting Hat song that I remember him singing in the book. It was the strangest sight I've ever seen, seeing a hat sing. She began to read off names in alphabetical order. Sara was of course right in the beginning after Hannah Abbott.  
  
"Sara Brandt," McGonagall called. Sara nearly ran over to the stool where the hat was and jammed it on her head. The hat spoke out loud. I could see Sara whispering, "Slytherin, Slytherin."  
  
"Slytherin?" the hat asked, "No, I don't think so. Hmm, there are plenty of brains, yes, and a thirst for real adventure. Well, I should say GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted to the crowd. The table on the left cheered. Sara ran off gleefully. It went down the line. We saw Draco Malfoy being sorted and of course the hat said Slytherin before it touched his head. Go figure. Hermione Granger ran up like Sara had and grabbed the hat, nearly knocking over the stool in the process. Of course, Gryffindor. So were Harry and Seamus and Dean. All the usual.  
  
"Mell Scalzi?" Professor McGonagall said.  
  
"All right!" Mell pushed through the crowd from behind me, "I'll see you guys in Gryffindor!" she ran up to the stool and jammed the hat on her head.  
  
"Hmm," the hat began right away, "plenty of personality I see."  
  
"Gryffindor, Gryffindor," she whispered fiercely.  
  
"Gryffindor? Well, that seems likely. You seem quite full of courageous spirit I'd say. Hmm, well, I'll put you in-GRYFFINDOR!" the hat roared.  
  
"YEEEHHAAWWW!" Mell whooped and ran off to join Sara. Mike was next.  
  
He walked up when his name was called and put the hat on his head, trying to look cool. The hat went off again.  
  
"Well, what to do with you? You seem brave, yet looks can be deceiving. Very kind at heart and seemingly strong. Hmm, well, why not? GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
I watched Mike walk dizzily over to the table on the left. I started shaking myself. All my friends were there, what if I didn't get there? A few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws went up.  
  
"Ann Victor," came the call. I walked over; feeling just as dizzy as Mike looked. Sitting on the stool, I placed the hat on my head. It was so large that it drooped over my eyes. I jumped as it started.  
  
"Well, Miss Ann, where to put you? There's a thirst to prove yourself, yes, and a quiet, yet generous heart. A quick mind and good on your feet. Hmm, yes, definitely GRYFFINDOR!" I gasped with relief as the Gryffindor table burst with applause. I collapsed next to Mike, who gave me a high-five. I took deep breaths as they finished the sorting.  
  
According to my thoughts, everyone was sorted and the feast began. The most amazing thing was when the food magically appeared on the tables. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen and the most delicious. There was everything from corn to nuts on the tables. I looked up at the teachers' table. I saw Snape, sitting there, talking with, oh, jeez, Professor Quirrel. I gazed in horror at Quirrel. All of a sudden, he looked straight at me and a flash of fear struck me.  
  
"What's the matter, Ann?" Mike asked. "N-nothing."  
  
I looked back at the teacher's table, passing over McGonagall and Hagrid, looking at Madame Hooch and Professor Sprout. Finally, I got to an old man with a long white beard that could be tucked into his belt, as well as long white hair down his back. He wore long, billowing robes and a pointed hat. Dumbledore. Even looking at him gave me a sense of awe that I couldn't shake away, like I could for Quirrel. He seemed so energetic and life-like for an old man like that and so powerful. When the dessert came, we were all in hog heaven. Cubes of every shape and size of every kind of ice cream you could possibly imagine were spread out along the table. I ate as much as my stomach could hold and then leaned forward, putting my head in my arms, feeling suddenly quite tired and sleepy. Dumbledore made quite a few announcements, including the one about not being allowed to into the Forbidden Forest. I glanced down the row at two redheads who were grinning suspiciously.  
  
"And now, after we've filled ourselves to our heart's content, it is time for bed. Off you go now!" Dumbledore smiled with twinkling eyes at us all and sent us out. A boy with red hair I guessed was Percy Weasley led us along towards the Gryffindor entrance. Along hallways and through tapestries and up staircases we went, trudging along and dragging our tired feet. Finally, we reached the big painting of the Fat Lady, dressed in a frilly pink dress.  
  
"Password?" she asked politely.  
  
"Chocolate Frog," Percy said and the painting swung open to reveal the common room. It looked so welcoming and cozy with its roaring fire and shelves of books and several large comfy chairs.  
  
"Boys, your dormitories are on the left, girls, on your right. Off to bed. Your things have already been brought up for you."  
  
Sara, Mell, and I shared a room with Hermione and Lavender and Parvati. When we walked in, I gave a sigh of relief and happiness. In a circle, there were six big beds with long scarlet curtains and scarlet cushions. I rushed over and jumped on one. Quickly putting on my nightgown that lay on my sheets, I slipped into a very deep sleep. 


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four  
  
You know the part when Harry is being followed by excited whispers and looks all throughout the first day? Well, we were kinda one of those people. We'd look for him in between our classes, though most of our classes were with him because we were all first year Gryffindors. My classes were fascinating. My favorite by far was Charms. Professor Flitwick was the cutest little teacher I've ever seen, sitting on his big pile of books behind his desk. For the first week, we basically went through the first chapter of every book we had in every class. Professor Snape gave us a talking to. Even though I knew he wasn't the evil one, he scared me to death. He gave people these looks like you-better-watch-yourself kind of looks, like an evil eye. Professor McGonagall was the same way, only not evil, if that makes any sense. She was strict and terribly clever. She turned her desk into a pig at the beginning of our first class of Transfigurations. It was more amazing watching it than reading about it.  
  
"Hey, what's that Neville?" I heard Dean point to a little object in Neville's hand at breakfast on Friday.  
  
"It's a Remembrall. It glows red when you've forgotten something."  
  
I gazed at it in amazement as it glowed red.  
  
"The only trouble is, I can't remember what I've forgotten."  
  
"Can I see that Neville?" I asked. He handed it to me and I looked over it. It was perfectly round and glowed a scarlet red smoke. It was pretty heavy and fit exactly in the measure of my hand. It looked made of pure glass and was clear without the red smoke. Then someone pulled it out of my hand.  
  
"What's this Victor?"  
  
"It's not mine, it's Neville's, Malfoy."  
  
"A Remembrall, interesting Longbottom, why don't I keep it safe for you, so you don't forget it?"  
  
"Give it here, Malfoy." I spoke up. I knew Neville wouldn't say anything. Malfoy took a step closer.  
  
"She said, hand it over." Mike stood up. I swallowed a giggle. Malfoy looked up at the boy who was about two or three heads taller than him. Malfoy exhaled and gave it to Mike. Mike sat back down, giving the Remembrall to Neville.  
  
"You don't need to be my bodyguard, Mike, I can stand up for myself."  
  
"Ok, ok, just making sure."  
  
"Sara."  
  
"What?" came a voice from behind a potions book.  
  
"What classes do we have today? Anything new?"  
  
"Yeah. YES! Flying lesson at eleven. Man, this is so much better than bio."  
  
"Coolness."  
  
I waited impatiently for the flying lesson so when it finally came, I ran across to the Quidditch field. And, yes, we were with the Slytherins.  
  
Mike, Mell and Sara were already there. They were waiting some impatiently, some totally terrified. The Slytherins arrived "fashionably late," Malfoy in the lead, of course. Madame Hooch blew her whistle.  
  
"Ok, people. Stand next to a broom. Quickly, quickly."  
  
I took one next to Mike and Mell. Lightly jumping up and down on the balls of my feet, I listened for her next instructions.  
  
"Stick your right hand over the broom and say, UP!"  
  
"UP!" I yelled. The broom flew up into my hand. I smiled around at my friends. Mell got it too, but Mike was having trouble.  
  
"UP!" he kept shouting, but the broom just rolled over. Then he just picked it in his hands with frustration. Eventually Sara got her broom in her grasp.  
  
"Now on the count of three, I'll blow the whistle. Then you will rise up from the ground, hover a little bit and then touch back down. Do nothing else!"  
  
We all looked around, gulping. Madame Hooch raised her whistle.  
  
"Ready, one.two."  
  
But she never got to three. Neville, two people down from me, rose from the ground higher and higher until he completely lost control of the broom. It flung him around all over the field forty feet in the air. I clutched my face with my fingernails, watching fearfully. Neville swung upside down, lost grip of the broom and fell to the ground with the sound of cracking bone. I shuddered.  
  
Madame Hooch ran over. "Tut, tut. Broken wrist. Come on now, up you get. I'll take you to the hospital wing. And all of you, don't you dare leave the ground on those brooms or you'll be out of here before you can say quidditch."  
  
And they left with Madame Hooch's arm around Neville.  
  
"Hey look it, it's Longbottom's little Remembrall thing!" Malfoy ran over and picked up the round ball.  
  
"What's the matter with you?" Harry spoke up. I glanced over at him.  
  
"Hand it over," my friends and I joined in, "Don't you know you're not supposed to touch things that don't belong to you without permission?"  
  
"Oh, little miss goody-two-shoes," Malfoy sneered at me, "I think I'll leave it somewhere for him to find, like up a tree."  
  
And with that, Malfoy took off into the air, making a few circles. He's a really good flyer, I thought. Harry followed suit with a determined look on his face, despite remarks from Hermione. Taking a deep breath, I clambered onto my broom too and pushed off. It was the most delightful feeling in the world. The air whooshed past my ears and I felt so light and free in the air. It was almost as good as flying by yourself.  
  
"Come on you guys," I heard Sara say, "Let's help."  
  
I grimaced. I knew Harry could do it on his own, but hey, what the heck? This is our fantasy. Another whoosh and Sara and Mell were by my side. Harry looked surprised to see three strange girls up there defending him.  
  
"Well," I said, smirking to Malfoy, "We've got my sidekicks, where's yours? Oh, yeah, I forgot, they're down there."  
  
He seemed to notice this but said, "All right, have it your way then," a smile coming across his face. He threw it as hard as he could upwards towards the towers of Hogwarts. I gasped and hesitated as Harry raced towards it. The Remembrall was flying fast. I hovered behind him, watching carefully. Sara was behind a ways and Mell warded off Malfoy. Harry reached out my hand, shakily, and closed it on the cold glass. The wall of the tower was coming closer and closer to the tip of his broom. Again, I clutched my face in fear, even though what was going to happen. He pulled my broom upwards and did a flip. I screamed and watched him settle himself up, facing our direction. He passed it to me. I threw it to Sara, who caught it and dodged Malfoy, throwing it to Mell. Mell caught it in her right hand before toppling softly onto the grass.  
  
"Yes!" I cried, punching the air. I lowered myself down to the ground and ran over to Sara and Mell, giving them hugs. Harry followed us, confused.  
  
"All right, we rock!" I cried.  
  
"GIRLS!" we spun around to face Professor McGonagall. I gulped, thinking: or not.  
  
"Pr-Professor-  
  
"Come with me, ladies, Harry you as well," she said curtly. We followed meekly, glancing at Mike who stared back at us, open-mouthed, knowing exactly where we were going.  
  
"Professor Quirrel, can I borrow Wood for a moment?" McGonagall peeped her head in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. I glanced at Sara and she hid a smile, raising her eyebrows. A tall boy came out, with shorn brown curls on his head and bright blue eyes. Mell looked back at us, both our jaws were touching the floor. Harry still just looked confused and kept glancing at us nervously.  
  
"Wood? I've found you some new players." McGonagall said, excitedly.  
  
He looked at us.  
  
"You three will make great Chasers, you look fit for that. And you," he looked at Harry, "you'll be great as our Seeker."  
  
"He caught that ball from a thirty feet distance. I saw it from my window," Professor McGonagall spoke up excitedly. Harry smiled weakly. "We'll arrange a meeting so you know the ropes," Wood told us.  
  
I smiled. Ok, but this was going to be really, really weird, but it felt a little exhilarating too. 


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five  
  
"Ok, kids, here's the scoop," Oliver Wood brought a heavy-looking trunk out onto to the field. "Quidditch is easy enough to understand. But actually playing it.well, that's a whole different story."  
  
Taking this all in, I swallowed, glancing at the trunk. He opened the heavy lid. Inside were three balls visible. Two were obviously bludgers and the quaffle, a big red soccer-looking ball, was in the middle. Harry shifted uncomfortably beside Mell.  
  
"All right, I guess we'll start with the quaffle because you three will be chasers." He pointed at Sara, Mell and me. "All you basically need to know is that you need to get it into the other team's goal before they do ours, with passing and such. You know the drill. And now," he held out two clubs, giving one to Sara and Mell, "you'd better take these, I'm gonna release the bludgers." He unlocked one and it zoomed up first then came back down. I watched Sara clutch her club, ready.  
  
"Here it comes," Wood said. It came whooshing back towards Mell's head and she gave a tremendous whack at it and it flew in the opposite direction, looping around the tower.  
  
"Hmm, you'd make a fair beater, Mell." Oliver smiled at her and putting a hand over his eyes to look for the bludger. Sara and I cast evil eyes at her. The bludger came rushing back towards us and Wood caught it in his hands and wrestled it to the ground, the bludger trying to get away. He somehow managed to get it back in the trunk and locked up.  
  
Gasping for breath, he stood up and grinned at us.  
  
"Now, the most important ball of all," he opened a little hidden pocket on the underside of the trunk lid and pulled out a glittery object, "the Golden Snitch. This is what I want you to worry about." He looked at Harry seriously, then tossed him the tiny glittering ball. We watched Harry's eyes widen with interest. The Snitch was so pretty! The gold of it shone in the evening sun and silvery wings unfolded themselves and made a whizzing sound; they were going so fast.  
  
"Pretty, ain't it?" he asked, glancing around at all of us.  
  
"It's beautiful," I murmured.  
  
"What do I do with it?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time. "You catch it. Before the other team does," Wood explained, "Got it, everyone?"  
  
Us girls nodded at him, starry-eyed. Harry glanced at us and nodded.  
  
"Right, now to practice for a little bit. We won't practice with this, but you can toss around these tennis balls, the Golden Snitch would get lost in the on-coming darkness."  
  
We leapt off the ground and zoomed in big circles around the pitch. It felt so wonderful being up in the air like that, usually I was sort of afraid of heights, but not when I could soar and glide like this. It was pure heaven. Wood tossed a tennis ball up and Sara caught it, throwing to Mell who passed it to me. I zoomed over towards the tennis ball and made a short stop right above the stands. I passed it down to Harry, who made a dive for it. Oliver stood in the middle of the field, watching us with interest. Soon, it grew too dark to see anything, so we had to stop. I was reluctant to come down, so I flew out of the pitch and across the lake a couple times, finally landing next to Sara. Suddenly a voice came from behind me.  
  
"Hey good job." I whirled around. It was Mike.  
  
"Oh, you came and watched us?"  
  
"Yeah, you guys get all the fun."  
  
"If you were on the team, they'd have to get a bigger broom."  
  
He glared at me.  
  
"Kidding, kidding, sorry."  
  
"So what's your team captain like? Oh, never mind don't answer that, you already seem to be drooling over him. You and Sara!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh, I noticed. It's really not that difficult to notice it, Ann."  
  
I threw caution to the winds.  
  
"Oh, I know, you're jealous."  
  
He gaped at me, turning red.  
  
"Yeah, that's it. You darn right jealous."  
  
He didn't say anything, but looked away grumpily.  
  
The five of us climbed into the common room a few minutes later. Collapsing onto one of the plushy armchairs, I sighed and gazed into the fire. Another voice came from behind,  
  
"That was really good today."  
  
"Ya know, Mike, you can stop rubbing it in now! It's getting really annoy-  
  
Harry Potter was standing behind my chair.  
  
"S-sorry, I thought you were someone else."  
  
"I know who you thought it was, he's in my room. Nice guy."  
  
"Isn't he?" I added sarcastically.  
  
"No, I really think so."  
  
"Most of the time he's a nice guy, but others he gets on my nerves."  
  
"One of those times?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, like I said, that was really good today. Thanks for giving me a hand."  
  
"Your welcome."  
  
"You fly really well."  
  
"Thank you, Harry, but I'm sure you're much better than me, being Seeker and all."  
  
"Oh, you know my name."  
  
"Doesn't everybody?" He looked into the fire suddenly.  
  
"Well, I mean since you're famous and everything?"  
  
"I guess so. I'm just not used to it."  
  
"I know what you mean. This magic stuff is new to me. It's like running on ice, it won't let me slow down."  
  
"Are you from the states?"  
  
"Yeah, can you tell?"  
  
"Well, the accent gives it away. Muggle?"  
  
"Well, most unfortunately.yeah."  
  
"I thought I was too."  
  
There was silence for a while. I suddenly remembered my friends, but they were in the corner where Fred and George Weasley (wow, it's the twins!) were teaching them Exploding Snap. Harry and I sat alone by the fire. I looked down at my watch. It was 9:02.  
  
"I should probably go to bed. I've had a really long day."  
  
"Yeah, me too. Well, it was nice meeting you."  
  
He stuck out a hand. I returned the hand and remembered something as he turned away.  
  
"My name is Ann, by the way, totally forgot to tell you."  
  
"Ann, right. See you on the Quidditch field."  
  
He smiled and opened the door to the boys' dormitories. I pulled Sara and Mell up with me to our room.  
  
"Hey Ann," Sara closed the door behind us, "I saw you over there getting all cozy with Harry. Come on, admit it."  
  
My jaw dropped in shock, then closed it in embarrassment as Hermione, sitting on her bed, brought her attention to us talking.  
  
"I was not. He was just being nice and congratulated me on today and stuff. We're friends. Or at least I think we are." I climbed under the covers, thinking quidditch thoughts and how it was so cool to make a new friend. 


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six  
  
The following day I awoke feeling rather tired and glum. I couldn't explain it, but I just felt that way. Mike joined Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville and kinda left us girls alone. Hmm, I wonder why?  
  
"Mell? Are you coming or what?" I checked my watch again.  
  
"Hold on, I need to find my book."  
  
"Hurry up, we're gonna be late for potions. Sara's already there. Come on."  
  
"Ok, ok." The door opened and she came out, carrying an armload of books.  
  
"Hm, that's new.now let's go!" I said, pulling her down the stairs of the girls' dorms and through the common room, bumping into someone who seemed also to have a lot of books. I tripped over my own feet and fell on my knees, hard. The person I bumped into fell on their hands first and right away started picking up books. I looked up at them. It was Hermione.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, let me get that." I picked up a thick book called, Hogwarts, A History.  
  
"Is this an interesting book?" I asked, handing it to her. She pulled her bushy brown hair away from her face to show big brown eyes that seemed to search me.  
  
"Oh, yes, I found out everything there is to know about Hogwarts and then some."  
  
"Potions, now, right?"  
  
"Yes. I woke up a little late and skipped breakfast."  
  
"Why don't you walk with us? We're going the same way."  
  
"Well, all right."  
  
We started off towards the dungeons. The bell was going to ring any minute, but we got there in just enough time. I slid into a seat next to Sara.  
  
"Whew, that was close. I wouldn't want to be at the mercy of Professor Snape."  
  
"Today we are concocting a sleeping potion. Get into groups and start immediately for it is a long task and will take the whole period. I have instructions here on my desk." Sara and Mell brought their cauldrons to meet with mine. We started pouring in ingredients.  
  
Man, there was a reason why it was called the Sleeping Potion. There was a LOT of stirring involved and basically sitting, waiting for it to turn a certain color. About forty-five minutes later, Sara spoke up suddenly.  
  
"Look, Ann," she hissed, "I found a gold Galleon on the floor. You know what I feel like?"  
  
She whispered to Mell and we started singing "Uptown Girl" softly and bursting into little ripples of giggles. Now we were supposed to be doing this quietly.  
  
"Girls!" a sharp voice echoed in the chamber. We stopped guiltily and turned around.  
  
"Would you like to present your little joke to the entire class?"  
  
I looked at my friends, shrugged, and said, "Sure." The class went kinda quiet, unusually quiet. Snape was silent a moment, then,  
  
"Well, enlighten us."  
  
We got up, grinning at each other. This song seemed to come up everywhere we went. Sara held up three fingers and put one down at a time.  
  
"Uptown Girl, she's been livin' in 'er uptown world!" We sang the first verse and then the 'ahh's' and I'm sure everyone thought we were all crazy and Mike, who recognized the song from Avonlea, was actually singing along. (If that makes any sense at all.) We finished the song and the last notes reverberated off the walls of the dark chamber in the silence. Then the bell rang. Snape shook his head and I thought I heard him mutter something about Americans. Well, go ahead and shake your head, Billy Joel rocks.  
  
During transfigurations class, we were assigned a project on the study of Animagy, the magic of humans turning into animals at will. Of course, the "dream team" was together. Sara, Mell and I pushed our desks together.  
  
"Lunch, we go to the library. Like we do in Fairfield."  
  
And in charms, yes, the Wingardium Leviosa charm today. Long had I wanted to make magic with my wand (pun intended) And today was really the first day I was going to use it. Well, I had held it carefully in my hands as if it were to explode if I touched it too long or too hard. I had never used it though. I walked into Professor Flitwick's classroom a little nervous, but terribly excited. I sat next to a red- haired kid that had to be Ron. That kid was so cute in the movie! But here he looked more like his description in the book: tall, gangly, big nose, big hands, big just about everything, and outrageously red hair. Mike sat down next to me. I felt even smaller than usual with two red giants beside me. Of course, Hermione was next to Ron.  
  
"OK, class. Now today is when we will experiment with the levitating charm. Go into partners and remember the technique we've been practicing. Swish and flick! Swish and flick!"  
  
"Swish and flick! Swish and flick!" I imitated, picking up my wand. Mike raised his a little hesitantly. Someone handed us a feather and we started. I looked around at everyone trying. I looked over at Hermione, who was trying to teach Ron to do it. Hermione stopped Ron, muttered the spell, and watched the feather rise slowly about four feet about her head.  
  
"Miss Granger has done it! Look everyone!" Professor Flitwick clapped his little hands together jovially. I turned to my feather and pulled Mike to attention.  
  
Ron looked grumpy, but I didn't blame him.  
  
After class, I met up with Harry and Hermione. Harry introduced me to Ron.  
  
"And that's Hermione." Ron added. "She's a little spoil-sport, thinkin' she knows everything!" Hermione gave Ron a piteous, hurtful look and rushed away, her face in her hands. I stared, open-mouthed.  
  
"Well that wasn't very nice!" I turned back to Ron. He shrugged.  
  
"She'll get over it. Girls are highly over-emotional."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Oh," he looked at me as if realizing that I was a girl, "Sorry, I meant SOME girls are over-emotional."  
  
"You don't know what you're talking about!" I stomped off; thinking that Ron was a very cynical and rude character. I caught up with Sara and Mell going to the library during lunch. There I was fascinated by the shelves and shelves of books. It was almost like the Beauty and the Beast library, but more interesting readings. I peeked through books that looked especially interesting, when we were supposed to be looking up information.  
  
"Ann!" Sara tapped me on the shoulder, "Come on, we have to go to class!" I hurried, tripping over my own feet on the way.  
  
That night, we continued studying in the common room.  
  
"Ann? Where's your transfiguration book?" Mell asked, looking around.  
  
"I don't know. I've been looking for it."  
  
"But we need it for the information in it, and you've got the special copy."  
  
Sara pushed aside a pile of books on the table and made herself visible.  
  
"Maybe you left it in the library."  
  
"But we need that book, this part of the project is due tomorrow!"  
  
"Then we simply have to go get it."  
  
"During night hours?"  
  
"Well, we have no other choice." I pushed in my chair and walked over to the entrance.  
  
"Come on!" They followed quickly, checking that no one was there, or so they thought.  
  
We crept out from the painting and around the corner. Going down the quiet corridors, I looked at the pictures, a little freaked out. I didn't like the way they kept moving. In the daytime, yeah, it was okay, but it was definitely not acceptable at night. Finally, we approached the library door. It wasn't locked, so we tiptoed in.  
  
"It's over there!" I hissed, pointing to the table in the corner where we had been that afternoon. I ran swiftly over and retrieved the important book, coming back panting.  
  
"OK, got it, let's go, quick!"  
  
"Scared?" Sara looked down at me.  
  
"NO." I whispered, glaring.  
  
We crept again along the Charms corridor, straining our ears for any amount of sound. All of a sudden, I heard footsteps coming from around the corner. I stopped Sara and Mell and we hid behind a knight. When everything was quiet again, I led them slowly around the corner.  
  
I clasped my hands to my mouth to keep from yelling out. Four figures stood in the darkness, just as scared as we were, it seemed. Sara touched my shoulder and I jumped.  
  
Peering at the dark figures, I noticed something. One was really tall, the other three were shorter. One of the shorter ones wore glasses and had dark, tousled hair.  
  
"H-Harry?"  
  
"Y-yeah?"  
  
"Is that you?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Oh, whew." I gasped with relief. Of course, the others were Mike, Ron and Hermione.  
  
"What are you guys doing here?" we said at the same time.  
  
"We had some business out of the common room." We said at the same time again.  
  
"Wait," Mell said. "OK, whew, OK, where were you guys going?"  
  
Mike spoke, "Supposedly Harry had some trouble with Malfoy and he was having a wizard's duel with him in the trophy room. We were his seconds." He jabbed his thumb at Ron.  
  
"And I was trying to stop them, but I got locked out of the common room because the Fat Lady left for a while. I had no choice, but to follow them." Hermione sounded really annoyed with her companions. She gave an exhale.  
  
"We were getting a forgotten book in the library." I explained, "but let's get out of here because there's Mrs. Norris."  
  
The custodian Mr. Filch's cat was peering at us with her yellow, glowing eyes. We looked at her and ran, knowing Filch would be here momentarily because he went wherever his cat went. We went back down the Charms corridor for the third time that night. I could hear Filch already.  
  
"Don't worry, missy, we'll find the little culprits outta bed."  
  
That made me run faster.  
  
"In here!" I heard someone shout and another person pull on the door.  
  
"It's locked!" Ron cried out.  
  
"Oh move over!" Hermione pushed over to the front and pulled out her wand.  
  
"Hurry!" I hissed, jumping up and down, looking down the hallway.  
  
"Alohomora!" she cried and the door opened.  
  
We packed in and shut the door. I pressed my ears against the door, hearing Filch pass by muttering to himself about Peeves.  
  
"I wonder why it was locked. All the other doors are open." Mike whispered, looking around.  
  
"It's for a good reason, believe me." Mell backed towards us, to the door. She had a scared expression on her face. It was the three-headed dog. The REAL one, with its long drools of spit and its three noses ever sniffing and its razor-sharp teeth. I gulped.  
  
"It's the third floor corridor." Hermione whispered, "We're forbidden from here, like Dumbledore said at the first feast."  
  
"It's Flu-  
  
Sara stomped on my foot. She gave me a look that said they-don't-know-about- it-yet-so-don't-say-anything. Between death from monstrous creature or Filch, we chose Filch. We opened the door quickly and ran for whatever our lives were worth, arriving, finally, out of breath at the Gryffindor entrance. Thankfully, the Fat Lady was back.  
  
"My, where have you all been?" she asked.  
  
"Lemon drop-lemon drop," we all wheezed, gasping out the password. The painting swung open and we ran in, collapsing in the armchairs. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven  
  
"What do they think they're doing?" Ron cried in shock, "keeping that thing in Hogwarts, that's stupid!"  
  
"You didn't see it did you?" Hermione cut in. The rest of us watched the scene with interest. "You didn't see what it was standing on?"  
  
"No, I think I was a bit preoccupied with its heads," Ron protested sarcastically.  
  
"It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."  
  
Harry looked as if he suddenly remembered something.  
  
"But, Ron, wait. When Hagrid took me to get school supplies and we went to Gringotts, he said that Gringotts was the best place if you wanted to keep something safe, except perhaps Hogwarts. And then he got that 'thing' from vault whatever and said not to mention anything about it. I bet that's what the monster is guarding. It's keeping it safe."  
  
"From what though?" Mike interrupted, mischievously. Obviously, he knew what was going to happen. I cleared my throat loudly, looking significantly at him. Mike got the picture and shut up.  
  
"I don't know," Harry shrugged. Then he yawned. "I'm going to bed."  
  
"And we have to finish this part of our project." I said, tossing the book onto the table. Sara and Mell sat down rather limply. I checked my watch. It was 12:03.  
  
"Come on, you guys. If we get started now, it won't take long."  
  
We did try to work fast, but one of us kept dozing off. Eventually, I had to get my Charms book and figure out how to squirt water at them (and myself) from my wand. Harry and Ron had gone off to bed. Hermione sat in front of the fire, staring into the flickering flames. I stared at her for a moment. She was obviously in deep thought.  
  
Mike had fallen asleep on the couch. Well, at least he didn't snore. I poked him with my wand.  
  
"Hey, go to bed. You fell asleep." He rubbed his eyes, looked at me for a second, and then turned over, going back to sleep again. I gave up and he slept there the whole night. I trudged back to the table.  
  
"I just have t-t-t-to write," I gave a big yawn. "I have to write this and then we're done."  
  
I got no answer. They were folded over on the table, their heads on the arms. I wrote something, I don't even remember what I wrote, and then put my head down too. But I couldn't help thinking as I drifted off, that things were about to get interesting.  
  
I woke with my transfigurations book stuck to my face. I squinted in the sunlight that flooded the room and looked around. Mike was hunched over on the couch with one arm hanging off, dragging on the floor. Hermione must have gone up to bed. Sara and Mell were still asleep, Mell with her face in her arms and Sara must have fallen off the chair, for she was curled up like a cat on the carpet. I could hardly wait for the day to start. The mystery of the Sorcerer's Stone had begun.  
  
  
  
Halloween had come. It was the end of October and brisk outside. The festivities began that morning at breakfast when we got pumpkin shaped waffles. Classes went slow. After Potions, Ron came out in a bad mood again; Hermione had aced the potions quiz.  
  
"You know," he said, "I bet that's all she does, get good grades. I'll bet she's noticed she hasn't got any friends."  
  
Someone ran past him up the corridor with bushy hair.  
  
"I think she heard you, Ron." Harry looked after her.  
  
Ron didn't say anything, but as I gazed at him, he looked rather uncomfortable this time.  
  
Finally, the Halloween feast began. Oh, man, I had never seen so much candy in a one place in my entire life and everyone had their favorites on their plates. I wondered how they found out that one. Sara sat down gleefully at her seat and licked her lips at the huge pile of Snickers.  
  
"Isn't that muggle candy?" I asked.  
  
"Well, they had to make an exception for Halloween, Ann. I couldn't go through a Halloween without Snickers." I giggled and looked over at Mell's plate. There were tons of different kinds of candy. I nodded agreeing with her pile.  
  
I looked down the row and saw Harry and Ron digging into their piles, hungrily. I noticed something.  
  
"Hey Harry! Where's Hermione?"  
  
He shrugged, a Chocolate Frog hanging from his mouth. He slurped it up, laughing, and then said, "I haven't seen her since Potions."  
  
Neville spoke up. "Parvati Patil said Hermione's been in the bathroom all day, crying."  
  
I saw Ron and Harry look uncertainly at each other. Good, I thought, they deserve their guilt for what they did. I turned back to my plate, which, in turn, was covered in some muggle candy and some wizard candy.  
  
All of a sudden, a shrieking voice came from the entrance hall, coming into the Great Hall. It was Quirrel.  
  
"TROLL!" he yelled, "Troll in the dungeons!" There was a pause, then, "Thought you ought to know." He dropped to the floor in a faint. There was a panic. Even us, who knew what was going to happen, freaked out. Everyone was screaming and running over each other to get out. It took quite a few explosions from Dumbledore's wand to restore order. Everyone quieted.  
  
"Now, everyone, calmly follow your house prefects to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."  
  
Everyone was silent, but hurried to get out. I ran over to Harry and Ron.  
  
"Harry! Hermione!" He turned to me, looking quizzical.  
  
"She's still in the bathroom." He groaned, then dragged Ron and me away from Percy and the other Gryffindors. I grabbed Sara, Mell and Mike.  
  
"Come on, we're helping them get Hermione!" I looked excited at them and they realized what we were about to do. Trying to keep quiet, they followed.  
  
We passed through the crowd to the second corridor. I guessed she would be in the one near Defense Against the Dark Arts room. We were about to run there, when I smelt an awful stench coming from around the corner. Now, you can't exactly know what it's like, reading about a huge mountain troll, when you can't really smell it and you can't really see it with its huge waving arms and little head, carrying its big club. It was awful. We watched it in horror, stuck to the floor behind the statue where we were hiding. The troll went through a door on the right.  
  
"That's the girls' bathroom!" I hissed. Slowly, we crept out from our hiding place, watching the door with both eyes, making sure the troll wouldn't suddenly come out and get us. There was a scream.  
  
"Hermione's in this one!" Sara hissed at Harry and Ron. She raised her eyebrows and bit her lip to keep from shrieking from excitement.  
  
"Come on," Harry said. I gripped my wand. Ron opened the door and found Hermione hiding under the sinks. The troll had already ambushed the stalls, tossing bits and pieces of wood around and swinging his club dangerously close to Hermione's head. Ron ran and picked up a fragment of wood.  
  
"Oy! Pea-brain!" he threw the wood at him. The troll didn't even notice it. The stench was even more horrible in here. I looked around to find my friends. Mell was behind me, looking up at the hulk of the troll. Sara had pinched her nose and had backed away towards the wall where Mike was staring blankly up at the monster. Harry stood next to me, yelling.  
  
"Hermione move!" he swung his arm to bring her over. She crawled under the sinks, looking up at the monster, horrified. Ron was still trying to throw stuff at the troll. It wasn't working. The troll was still looking for Hermione. Ron stuck his foot out as the troll stepped over towards us. I gasped as it tripped making the walls shake, but it didn't fall, instead it found Ron and hit him over the head with his arm, making him fall to the ground.  
  
Sara grabbed hold of Mell's arm and ran for it. They jumped on the back of the troll, punching and kicking.  
  
"Stupid troll! You can't do that to Ron!" they screamed. Mell was hurled onto his shoulders and her wand was stuck up his nose. The pieces of the stalls Harry, Mike and I were throwing at him didn't have the least effect. But of course he noticed when the little piece of wood was thrown up his nose.  
  
"Ron! Do something!" Harry yelled, still throwing and staring desperately at my friends. Ron had gotten up dizzily.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Anything!" I yelled at him. He raised his wand and said the first thing that came to his mind.  
  
"Wingardium Leviosa!" the troll's club raised above the troll and then fell with a sickening crack on its head. The troll wavered and stumbled. I gasped because Mell and Sara were still on top of him. Mike raised his wand and yelled, "Accio Mell!" I looked at him in amazement; can you do that with people? Obviously, because Mell flew through the air and was caught by Mike. He put her down rather quickly.  
  
"Rock that!" Mell yelled, grinning at the troll.  
  
I laughed, then, "Accio Sara!" Sara flew from the troll's leaning back and crashed onto me. I collapsed to the floor and Sara rolled onto her knees and jumped back up. Hermione was hidden, terrified under the sinks. The troll finally fell and landed in a heap amid the flying of dust that followed. Ron still had his wand in the air. There was a silence as the dust settled. Then hurried footsteps sounded in the hall.  
  
"Excuse-oh my!"  
  
It was Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, Snape and Quirrel. I swallowed, we all glanced at Ron, wishing he would put his wand down.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?"  
  
"Wel-um-  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"It was my fault, Professor." Hermione got up from the rubble. "I went off to find the troll because I thought I could beat it, you know, because I've read all about them. And they came and rescued me."  
  
We tried to look convincing; Ron and Harry were glancing at Hermione in shock. I slowly stood back up. Professor McGonagall looked at each of us.  
  
"Well, I cannot deny that your intentions were well meant, but that does not cover it. Miss Granger, how could you be so ignorant? Taking a mountain troll by yourself, that's scandalous! As for the rest of you, as I said before, it was well meant, so I suppose that five points will be awarded to Gryffindor," she looked at us again, "for sheer dumb luck."  
  
I grimaced, but followed them to the common room. As I walked I noticed Snape's pant leg was ripped and bloody. There was a foot long cut down his leg. I glanced at Harry; he saw it too. We caught each other's eyes with questioning looks. Snape caught us looking and covered his pants quickly with his robe.  
  
When we stepped into the common room, we collapsed onto the welcoming armchairs.  
  
I turned back to Harry, Ron and Hermione. They were shaking hands. I exhaled in relief. Yeah, we were all friends now. One big group. It felt really good. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight  
  
"Hey, that's not fair!" I cried.  
  
"What's not fair about it?" Ron said, moving his queen. "You're just jealous that I can play chess better than you can."  
  
"It's a stupid game. Besides, in wizard's chess, you can basically only play it once because, look, all the pieces are broken."  
  
"No, watch the pieces. Eventually, they put themselves back together."  
  
"I like muggle chess better. At least if you make a wrong move, the opponent won't smash you to a million pieces."  
  
"That's what makes it exciting. Oh, hi Hermione."  
  
Ron and I were playing wizard's chess in the empty Great Hall with Harry next to us reading and Sara, Mell and Mike playing a game of Exploding Snap. Hermione had just walked in to say goodbye before she left for Christmas vacation.  
  
"Hi Ron." She paused, holding her suitcase. "Now you're all going to help Harry during break to search for things about Nicholas Flamel."  
  
Yeah, they had figured out about Flamel. Hagrid had given them the slip one week in November and they've been searching for his name ever since. We decided not to tell them anything, save little hints. They had to figure out about the Sorcerer's Stone by themselves. We decided to stay and help the two boys during Christmas break because, first of all, it would be stupid to go home in my fantasy, it would be pointless to go all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, and second of all, face it, they needed the help.  
  
"Oh, come on, Hermione, we've searched a hundred times!" Ron moaned. Hermione leaned in close and whispered,  
  
"Not in the restricted section." She straightened up, "Happy Christmas!" and with that she left, with Ron staring after her in amazement.  
  
So began our quest. During the long free days that we had proceeding Christmas we spent in the library, poring over books in turn. I read them out of curiosity while Harry and Ron searched in vain for any sign of Flamel, which I already knew wouldn't be there. Sara, Mell and Mike got tired of pretending to search and started a snowball fight out on the grounds. Eventually, I had to stop too, as my eyes hurt from reading and I wasn't giving them anything anyway. So Harry and Ron were left to put together their pieces. Good, as it should be, we don't want to be too interfering.  
  
"Ann!" a face appeared in my blurry vision. "Come on, wake up! It's Christmas!" I rubbed my eyes and Sara came into view. I slowly sat up and gazed happily at the pile of beautifully wrapped presents on the edge of my bed.  
  
"Come on, Ann! We didn't get presents just to look at them! Open them!" Mell urged. I sat "indian-style" on the bed, wondering which one to open first.  
  
The door opened and Harry, Ron and Mike came ambling in from the boys' dorms. Hermione sat up and gasped.  
  
"Hey! You guys aren't supposed to be in here!"  
  
"So?" Ron shrugged. They came in carrying their own bundle of presents each.  
  
  
  
Everyone started opening their own packages. I opened one from each of my friends, mostly candy.  
  
Harry opened a package from his pile and lifted a strange thing from it. It was sort of like cloth, but seemed too light and fluttery to be any type of material. We all looked over.  
  
"Hey, I know what that is!" Ron looked it over. "That's an invisibility cloak." His eyes widened. "Wow, they're really rare."  
  
Everyone was silent. Mike said,  
  
"Try it on." Everyone agreed and there was a chorus of 'yeah's.'  
  
"Okay, okay." He swept the cloak behind him and wrapped it around his shoulders. A round of gasps sounded. Harry's head remained in the air with no visible body at all.  
  
"Whoa." I said. "That is way cool. Put it on over your head."  
  
He slipped it over his hair and disappeared. Another chorus of gasps.  
  
"Can you see me?" we heard a voice from the air.  
  
A chorus of 'no's.' He took it off and his body materialized. He looked at the amazing thing in his hands.  
  
"I think I've found a way to find Nicholas Flamel."  
  
That night, we stayed in the common room extra late until we were sure that no one could be awake in the castle. We sent Harry off on his mission to the restricted section of the library. It looked really scary when we handed the air a lantern and it remained suspended in space.  
  
"Good luck!" we told him. And with a creaky opening of the painting by an invisible hand, he was gone. None of us went to bed; I personally wanted to see if he found anything. Remembering from the book, the restricted section would be the only thing that he would be investigating.  
  
"Do ya think he'll find anything?" Ron asked. I already knew that answer, but answered,  
  
"I don't know."  
  
I went into deep thought about anything that happened to enter my head. Oh, yeah, quidditch. No games had happened yet. The day before the first match was supposed to take place, I "accidentally" spilled some of our potion mix that cured boils on Hufflepuff's seeker, who happened to be my partner. The player was laid up in the hospital wing for a week and the match was eventually canceled. And then the bad weather had caught up and there would be no matches until February. Oh, well, my stupid nerves got the better of me. Though that did not stop our practicing. Wood kept us in shape by bringing us to the field four days a week, rain of shine. My limbs shuddered with the memory of it. Man, quidditch was much harder playing it than reading about it. I guess that's what brought my nerves up. And Wood was a teensy bit mad at me for getting the opponent's player in the hospital right before the match and said it was all my fault. Well, I couldn't argue with that, but I must admit, with that Scottish accent, Wood looked pretty good when he was angry. I pondered over all these quidditch things for who knows how long. It must have been long because all of a sudden, maybe an hour later, someone hissed, "Harry's back!"  
  
Harry was back and he threw off his cloak in excitement.  
  
"Did you find out about Nicholas Flamel?" Mike asked.  
  
"No, but I found something better! It's so cool! My family's there! Come on everybody!"  
  
He dragged us all out the painting again and tiptoed down the corridors, stopping a little ways off from the library in front of a door. He beckoned to us to follow him and opened the door quietly.  
  
"It's over there! Look, you'll see my parents!"  
  
"But Harry, you're parents are, well, um, they're dead." Sara said gently.  
  
"I know, but they're still there."  
  
He ran over to a giant mirror, looking in it eagerly.  
  
"It's the Mirror of Erised!" I bumped Mike with my elbow.  
  
"I know." He said, stepping over to it with interest.  
  
"Can you see them" Harry asked excitedly, "My mum's on the lef-  
  
"No, I see something different." Mike said, standing in front of it.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm not going to tell."  
  
Sara and I looked at each other uncertainly. That didn't sound okay.  
  
"Why not?" I asked.  
  
"Because, I'm not. That's all. Here, Miss Ann, you look in it and see if you don't want to share what's in it."  
  
I stepped cautiously in front of it. My eyes were shut tight. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see the greatest desire of my heart. To be truthful, I had no idea what it would be.  
  
"Well, open your eyes, Ann. What do you see?" Mike protested. I squinted slightly. He cleared his throat, meaningfully.  
  
"Ok, ok, calm down." I let my eyes fly open, terrified. I saw-I saw, me. I raised an eyebrow. I looked the same, with a smile on my face. I didn't seem any different. I looked over my reflection carefully. I seemed taller and proud of something. This was confusing.  
  
I paused, then left from the standing spot, feeling rather disappointed with my choosing. I thought it was going to show all these things I didn't know about myself, that I would want to find out. Oh, well. We each took turns. Nobody said anything about their reflection, but I didn't really want to know. I sat against the wall, pondering over what I had seen. Then I shook it away, thinking maybe I was happy with my life.  
  
Everything got kinda silent. One by one we silently left to go back to the common room, including Harry. I couldn't tell whether everyone was happy about their findings or sad. Everyone seemed a bit confused, like they weren't sure what it exactly meant.  
  
I decided to go back the following night, just to make sure. Harry didn't go with me, sensing it had been a wrong idea to bring everyone to see the Mirror of Erised. Oh, well. I went without the invisibility cloak. I reached the little room and approached the mirror carefully, like I had the night before. I gazed at my reflection still smiling back at me. Then I got angry. Why didn't I see anything but myself? Was there something wrong with me? What did the others see? No one revealed theirs either. Was I the only one who saw just me? Just me? I sat down, staring hard-faced at the girl in the glass.  
  
"Back again?" a voice behind me made me jump. It was Dumbledore. Of course it was.  
  
"Yeah." I sighed.  
  
"Harry's not here?"  
  
"No. He brought us all last night, but I think it was a failure." Then I gasped, knowing what I had just revealed. Now I was trouble.  
  
"I know."  
  
"You do?"  
  
"Yes. I think Harry figured it out by himself about this mirror. Tis a dangerous object. I suppose you know about it, yes?"  
  
How did he know? I nodded.  
  
"Do you know what your reflection means?"  
  
"No, it confuses me. I thought I was gonna see all these great things there, but it's just me and I don't know why."  
  
"Look closely at yourself. What do you see?" I leaned forward, so that my nose was an inch away from the glass.  
  
"I see myself."  
  
"And that's all?"  
  
"Well, I seem taller and proud about something."  
  
"Exactly. You wish to be satisfied with yourself."  
  
"What?" this guy clearly made no sense.  
  
"You always want to succeed in everything. A good quality. You are quite hard on yourself though. Not always a good quality. You see before you a person who is completely happy with themselves for being who they are capable of being."  
  
"Really? All that?"  
  
"Yes. You wish to be able to amount to great things, but feel that you as a person can never get to amounting those things. You lack in self- confidence."  
  
"No I don't."  
  
"I mean thus: You want to be able to prove yourself worthy of being the great person that you are. You want to feel satisfied with yourself. You cannot go all your life, measuring yourself up to others. You have to feel comfortable with yourself."  
  
I had heard this said to me a hundred times, but coming from such a wise man as Dumbledore, it made more sense.  
  
"Do you understand now?"  
  
"Yes, I think."  
  
"And will you go through with getting yourself to where you want to be?"  
  
"Yes." I stood up. "Thank you, Professor."  
  
"You are most welcome, dear. Now go off to bed."  
  
I ran back to the common room feeling strangely lighter than I had before. I saw Harry waiting in one of the armchairs.  
  
"Oh, you're back." He said, standing up.  
  
"I am."  
  
"Look, Ann, I don't know if you should go back anymore."  
  
"I know. I'm not. Anyway, it's being moved to a new place." I said, knowing a line from the book. "None of us are to look for it again."  
  
He looked at me curiously, then sighed.  
  
"I suppose you're right. I felt so happy going to see my parents. It felt like they actually alive and that I could step right into the mirror and be with them."  
  
"I know how you feel." I smiled at him and left through the girls' dorms door.  
  
Getting into my nightgown, I looked at my companions sleeping peacefully in their beds. This fantasy seemed more like one of those moral adventures than anything. It was so incredibly different than going to Avonlea. I had learned so much more and met so many new friends. And I felt better about myself. That part could never be taken away, fantasy of not. 


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine  
  
"Ready Ann?"  
  
"N-no."  
  
"Eat something. You need it."  
  
"No, not hungry."  
  
"Come on."  
  
"No."  
  
Mell reached over and stuffed a spoonful of cereal in my mouth. I coughed, but swallowed it. I knew I couldn't digest it though. My stomach was all upside-down and inside out, you know the feeling. Yup, it was February and the first quidditch match of the season was finally taking place. Harry was leaning over his plate, staring blankly. Sara and Mell looked a little pale, I knew I was as white as a ghost and cold as one too. My nerves have always over-reacted for anything, even it was just talking to someone I didn't know.  
  
We were sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for breakfast. Nobody was actually eating anything, even those not on the team. Sara folded her arms on the table, looking a little green as she looked at her plate that Hermione had compiled for her, complete with fruit and oatmeal, with a glass of orange juice. Oliver Wood leaned over to her.  
  
"You're going to want to eat that." He said. "You'll need it."  
  
"I can't. My stomach is all butterflies."  
  
"Nervous, eh?" He put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. The first game is a little wobbly, yes, but once ya get used to it, it's not so bad. Now, come on eat something."  
  
Sara's face turned from green to red in a matter of seconds and she gave a tiny grin.  
  
"Well, that's better! Quidditch is fun, believe me!" Wood smiled at her and walked out.  
  
Sara turned and dug into her food, smirking at Mell and me. We smirked back.  
  
All of a sudden, (time had seemed to be on a fast forward) we were in the locker room, putting on scarlet robes and gathering brooms. No, we didn't get Nimbus Two Thousands, but Harry did. I stared out the little window out into the pitch, where hundreds of students were slowly gathering. I gulped and clutched my broom. Someone came up from behind. It was Sara and Mell.  
  
"Don't be nervous. We're in this together, right?" I nodded.  
  
"Besides, if we win, Fred and George will have a party for all of us in the common room."  
  
"OK, team, let's go!" Wood pushed open the doors to the screaming crowd and we flew out, encircling the field. Our opponents were Ravenclaw. They zoomed out in blurs of blue. Taking a deep breath, I gazed around the stadium. I saw Ron and Hermione waving their arms at me. I waved back, feeling a little more assure. Mike was standing up, using binoculars. He waved when he reached me. I waved back.  
  
A whistle sounded from the ground. Madame Hooch stepped into the middle of us and looked up.  
  
"Now I want a nice, clean game. All of you."  
  
She took out the quaffle and (it seemed in slow motion) she threw it up in the air. Mell caught it and zoomed above the others. She threw it to Sara who raced over towards the Ravenclaw goalposts, scoring our first ten points. I cheered, punching my arm.  
  
Sara tossed the quaffle to me, and I flew off, ducking under a passing bludger. Fred raced after me, whacking hard at the heavy ball. I made it to the Ravenclaw side and scored again.  
  
I turned off to the other direction, my mouth wide open in shock and happiness. Then, something whistled by my head. I ducked. Whew, that was a close one, I thought as the bludger soared past me. I flew up higher, circling the game. Harry was on the other side, slowly circling above the players.  
  
By this time, Ravenclaw had scored and it was twenty to ten. I exhaled, hoping against hope that I would find the Snitch first. Keeping my eyes peeled, I listened to the commentary from Lee Jordan.  
  
"Quaffle thrown to Ravenclaw chaser, OH, intercepted by Gryffindor chaser, Scalzi, a new-comer to the team. One of the first, first year players in a century." Mell grinned.  
  
"Scalzi races to Ravenclaw goalpost, GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" he yelled into the microphone. Good, I thought, thirty to ten.  
  
Mell passed me the quaffle and I headed nervously and quickly the other side. All of a sudden, a hand whacked mine away and grabbed the quaffle. Darn it, Ravenclaw. I felt my heart sink to my feet. I slowed up and stopped right above the stands and watched the Ravenclaw team scream and yell, racing around the stadium.  
  
I moaned, looking down. Then I saw Harry towards the ground, standing on his broom with his arm outstretched towards something gold and shiny. I gasped and covered my mouth and everyone slowed down to watch.  
  
Then he tripped and fell forwards off his broom and the crowds yelled. He stumbled and slowly got up. We watched him curiously.  
  
"Looks like he's gonna be sick," I muttered to myself as Harry put his hands to his stomach. He coughed and the gold something protruded from his mouth.  
  
"YES!" I cried, shocked. Sara, Mell and I flew down to the ground, giving each other hugs and then Harry and the rest of the team. It was absolutely incredible.  
  
Later that night, I sat finishing my homework in the common room. Harry joined me at my table.  
  
"Hey," he said.  
  
"Hey," I smiled, "That was great today."  
  
"Thanks, you were great too."  
  
"Nah," I sighed, thinking about my miss and being the only one who lost the Quaffle, "I'll never be as good as the other players in this school."  
  
"Aw, jeez," I whispered, "Dumbledore was right."  
  
"Excuse me?" Harry said.  
  
"Oh, nothing." But immediately I felt a little better.  
  
"I have some news."  
  
"What might you have?" I smiled a bit.  
  
"Well, remember that detention Hermione and I had with Malfoy and Hagrid?"  
  
"Yeah." That was two days ago.  
  
"Well, I've put off telling you guys this, but here's what happened. Malfoy and I were walking along in the woods looking for an injured unicorn for Hagrid. Well, when we found it, someone was there drinking its blood. The 'someone' was hooded and I couldn't see its face. But I think it was Voldemort."  
  
"Voldemort?" I asked, pretending to be shocked.  
  
"Yes! We ran and a centaur rescued me, telling me that Voldemort was trying to return to his body using unicorn blood, which makes you live longer. He said Voldemort was trying to find something very valuable, something horrible that is in the very walls of Hogwarts. And I thought, well, it's gotta be the thing that the three-headed dog is guarding!"  
  
He finished, taking a breath. I raised my eyebrows.  
  
"Wow," was all I could say. The adventure was getting to the height of excitement and I couldn't wait for it to start.  
  
A few days later, I was tutoring Mike on Charms in the library. Sara and Mell were talking over a book.  
  
"Remember, it's swish and flick!" I demonstrated. "We've been doing this since the beginning of the year."  
  
"Sorry, I'm not good at this." Mike tried again.  
  
"The Cheering Charm is easy. Watch."  
  
I swished and flicked and cast the cheering charm on Mell. Perhaps a little too hard.  
  
"Wow, what a great book!" she said, grinning. "Isn't this a great book Mike? I think it is." He raised his eyebrows, looking back at me.  
  
"Hehe, um, well, it still worked."  
  
"You look nice today Sara. Have a jolly good day! Bwhahahaha!" and she got up dancing around.  
  
"I think we better put her in solitary confinement for a while until she is sane." Mike said. Sara looked at him. "Well, she's not really not much different, but yeah we better." We nodded. I stood up, grabbing her wrists. Mike grabbed her by the knees and dragged to the transfigurations classroom, which was empty.  
  
"OK, Mell, we're just gonna leave you in here for a while." I turned back to her, after grabbing a chair. She was dancing and singing.  
  
"With a bottle o' booze in the back o' my car!" I guffawed. Mike raised his eyebrows.  
  
"All right!" Sara exclaimed, "Let's keep her like this!"  
  
I laughed; Sara has tried countless times to get Mell to like Elton John, but it hasn't actually worked..that is, until now.  
  
We left Mell in the room, laughing her head off.  
  
Coming back to the library, we saw Hermione beckoning to us.  
  
"Come here!" she hissed. Harry and Ron had joined her. She had a huge heavy book in front of her.  
  
"I can't believe I forgot! I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading!"  
  
"That's light?" Ron said. She glared at him and started flipping through pages. Finding the page, she drew her index finger down the lines searching.  
  
"Aha! Here it is!" she began reading in her head, "Yes! This is it!" She looked at us dramatically, "The thing that the three-headed dog is guarding is.the Sorcerer's Stone!" 


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten  
  
"The what?" Ron said a little too loud.  
  
"Shush." Hermione lowered her voice to a whisper, "the Sorcerer's Stone."  
  
"Why is it so special?" Harry asked.  
  
"Because it turns any metal into pure gold and produces the Elixir of Life making the user immortal," she read.  
  
"Immortal?" Ron asked.  
  
"It means you never die."  
  
"I know what it means!"  
  
"Shh!"  
  
"Well, what are we going to do now?" Mell asked.  
  
"Well, we know that Voldemort is after it. But that doesn't mean he knows where it is."  
  
Suddenly, I remembered something.  
  
"Harry? Do you remember the night of the troll and we saw Snape?"  
  
Harry's face dawned, remembering.  
  
"Oh yeah! We saw his leg and it was all bloody and gross with a cut all down the side of it."  
  
"Maybe he tried to get through Fluffy." Mike said.  
  
"Who's Fluffy?"  
  
Mike swallowed, "Oh, um, didn't you know? The three-headed dog's name is Fluffy."  
  
"Fluffy?"  
  
"Well, yeah, um, Hagrid told me it was his."  
  
"Of course it's Hagrid's, but, um, Fluffy?" Ron whispered, raising an eyebrow. Mike shrugged.  
  
"You know his love for strange and dangerous animals. Remember the dragon last month?"  
  
We all shuddered. Harry and Hermione had gotten in trouble of course, losing all of our precious points, trying to get rid of the stupid creature.  
  
"Well," Sara cut in, "all we have left to do is wait for clues. Snape will try to get in someday. We'll just have to keep extra watch."  
  
Weeks passed with no sign of anything dangerous. Harry sometimes complained that his scar hurt. Finally months were slowly drifting away. We lost a few quidditch games. It wasn't my fault I swear! The next game Wood was knocked off his broom while catching a quaffle. Luckily, it was low to the ground and he only suffered a slight head injury, which was easily cured by Madame Pomfrey. The next game it was pouring so hard, we couldn't see anything and the other seeker got the Snitch by mere chance. The last game we had was against Slytherin. Ouch, I think my joints still hurt from being thrown into the stand walls.  
  
It was May and I was walking with Mike and Harry from quidditch practice. Mike had come to watch.  
  
"I'm glad to see you finally mastered the 'swish and flick' Mike," I teased.  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Harry, you fly really well," I commented.  
  
"Thanks, but not good enough, or we would win more games."  
  
I giggled.  
  
"Shh!" Mike said suddenly. He froze and listened. I perked up my ears. There were voices coming from the Forbidden Forest. Harry beckoned us over. Harry and I both had brooms. But Mike didn't have one.  
  
"Mike, get on mine!" I hissed.  
  
"Are you kidding me?" he hissed back.  
  
"Just get on!" it was a stupid idea. We teetered into the air, going as quietly as possible, following towards the trees. We lowered slowly onto the branches, Mike slipping off and kneeling on one of the boughs, low enough to hear who and what was going on. Harry sat rigidly on one behind me. I listened with every hearing ability I had. But of course I knew who it was.  
  
".d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet me here of all places, Severus."  
  
"That's Snape and Quirrel!" I mouthed to Harry, above me.  
  
"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"  
  
"B-b-but, Severus, I-  
  
"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrel," I heard Snape say.  
  
"I-I don't know what you-  
  
"You know perfectly well what I mean. And you will be going down there, soon I assume, for he won't wait much longer, now will he?"  
  
"W-what?"  
  
"Oh, please, Quirrel, I don't want any of your little hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."  
  
"B-but I d-d-don't-  
  
"Very well," Snape interrupted, "We'll chat soon enough so you can think things over and decide where your loyalties lie."  
  
I heard a swish of a cloak and then whimpering, probably from Quirrel and finally silence. We looked at each other, wide-eyed, and slowly climbed down.  
  
It was the day of another quidditch match. If Gryffindor didn't win this game, we'd be out of the running for the year. And so, no pressure at all. I sat shaking in the locker room, extra early. It was June and pretty warm, yet still I shivered. I knew it was only a matter of time until the rest of the team showed up. I sat in my quiet solitude until someone opened the door. I jumped and turned. It was Mell.  
  
"Oh, hey, there you are, he's been looking for you."  
  
"Who?" I asked, suddenly scared.  
  
"Wood of course!"  
  
"Why?" I asked again, suspiciously.  
  
"Just making sure our other chaser is in good order. I was sent to set up our brooms and stuff."  
  
She walked over to the broom closet (pun intended) and pulled out several of the school brooms.  
  
"The team oughta be here any minute."  
  
As if on cue, someone else opened the door. It was our team captain.  
  
"Of, there you are, good, we found you. All set for today's game?" Wood strolled over, helping Mell with the brooms.  
  
"I think so," I gulped.  
  
"Well, we have to win this game, you realize or we're out of the running."  
  
"I know."  
  
"So it's all up to Harry and all of you."  
  
"So no pressure." Mell grinned at me from under a pile of robes. I grinned back.  
  
Mell grabbed another huge pile of robes, perhaps too big, because she tripped on her shoelace and fell backwards into Oliver, knocking him over too. I covered my mouth to keep from giggling. Mell was sprawled on top of Wood, covered with scarlet robes. She picked one off her face and stood up, faster than anything I've seen from her. She blushed red. Wood stood up awkwardly, wiping his robes off.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." She said, a little quickly.  
  
"You're sure? That was some fall. We're going to need our chaser." He grinned and picked up some robes that had fallen on the floor.  
  
"Positive, I'm fine." Mell looked so uncomfortable, but I could tell she must have enjoyed it. She winked at me. I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud. Wood looked at me weird.  
  
Luckily, at that moment, the rest of the team showed up and I felt a little less nervous after laughing it off a bit. In ten minutes it seemed, we were dressed in our uniforms and flying out of the door into the pitch. The screaming and cheering came again. We had more cheering than the Slytherin, whom we were playing, because everyone wanted to see Slytherin finally get beaten. Our green opponents flew out after us, receiving some boos from the crowd. The Slytherin section cheered louder.  
  
I looked around. In the Gryffindor section, I saw a huge sign that was written in Sara, Mell and mine code. Wait, no one knows that code except for us. I read it.  
  
"Runnin' on Ice!" it said. I laughed and looked over at Sara, who gave me a thumbs-up. I returned it, smiling. My stomach felt less jumbly and I took a deep breath, staring at the Slytherin chasers. They all looked very menacing.  
  
The whistle sounded and the game began. It was so fast, I barely had time to keep up with the passing. Harry watched for the Snitch, while listening for Lee's commentary. In the first twenty minutes, Slytherin had scored four times. I could see Wood panting and cursing under his breath. I panted as I threw Mell the Quaffle. Slytherin scored again twice, so the scoring stood sixty to zero. Mell passed to Sara who passed back to Mell. Mell zoomed towards the Slytherin line, but was knocked to the ground by a passing Slytherin, who stuck his arm out as she passed. I gasped, watching her, forgetting all about the game for a moment. Then she slowly rose and got back onto her broom.  
  
Sara gasped and raced forward. With venom in her eyes, she flew up and rammed into the Slytherin who hit her, stealing the quaffle on the way. Mell punched the air, giving a wild whoop. Sara zoomed to the goalpost and scored our first goal. Wood circled wildly, yelling and punching the air, like Mell. The chaser on the Slytherin team took their beater's club and hit Sara in the stomach. I felt the wind go out of her as she keeled over.  
  
One penalty was given to each team by a shouting Madame Hooch. The score was sixty to ten and it didn't look good for Gryffindor. Sara was really mad and blew off some steam by throwing the quaffle just a little too hard. I just barely caught as it almost sailed over my head. I scored and we were slowly but surely getting even. The Slytherin seeker kept a close watch on Harry, making sure he didn't make any sudden moves. Wood's fists were clenched most of the time, unless he was trying to catch a passing quaffle.  
  
I ducked under a bludger and sailed underneath everyone. Mell passed me the quaffle and I passed it to Sara, but the pass was a little too low. She missed it and had to go diving for it. I sighed, getting frustrated. Several minutes passed. Slytherin scored two more times and if Harry didn't catch the Snitch soon, we'd be done for.  
  
Suddenly I gasped, the Slytherin seeker was grinning viciously and started rising up. Harry raced after him and I couldn't watch because I was too nervous and Sara had passed me the quaffle. I passed it to Mell and looked up as Harry whacked the Slytherin seeker's hand away.  
  
"YES!!" I yelled. Harry raised the Snitch high over his head and flew around the stands. The team cheered and raced after him. I saw Sara getting even with the other chaser by taking Slytherin's beater's club and hit him over the head and then in the gut. He keeled over bumping his nose on his broom, which started bleeding. Sara laughed evil and sailed up bumping into me, hugging me.  
  
"We did it! We finally freakin' did it!" we shouted. Mell joined our group and we lowered down slowly to the ground. We got off our brooms and ran to the center of the crowd. The rest of the team came over and gave us hugs. Wood was crying and gave each us girls a kiss on the cheek, which nearly made us die. Professor McGonagall, I saw, was rejoicing over Snape, for she too had wanted a Gryffindor win. Slowly she pushed her way over, suddenly looking stern.  
  
"Sara Brandt!" she yelled. Sara looked over, gulping. What on Earth could she have done?  
  
"Sara, ten points will be deducted from Gryffindor for fighting during a quidditch match. Such foolishness!" Sara gulped again. McGonagall leaned forward and whispered, "but fifteen points given to Gryffindor for kicking Slytherin's butt!"  
  
I nearly died again laughing. It was definitely a moment I will never forget.  
  
Final exams passed long and hard. I couldn't believe it when we finally finished the last one. On the last day of exams, Sara, Mell, Mike and I strolled along the lake, talking of recent happenings. All of a sudden Harry, Ron and Hermione ran up to us.  
  
"We've just been to see Professor McGonagall. She said Dumbledore has left for London. I know Snape is going to try and get the Stone while he's gone. And this is what we have to do." Harry paused, gasping. "We all have to go through the trapdoor and stop him.tonight." 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven  
  
"We all have to fit under your invisibility cloak?" Sara asked in disbelief, "Mike will never fit."  
  
"Enough with the tall jokes, please." Mike rolled his eyes.  
  
"Well, some of us don't have to go," Hermione suggested.  
  
"NO!" we all shouted at the same time. She shrugged. "Just a suggestion."  
  
"Then we'll have to go in shifts." Harry said, "The third floor's not far from here. I'll go back and forth bringing everyone."  
  
We had to agree. I had to anticipate an entire evening in the common room, waiting for everyone to go to bed. It was torture.  
  
"Ha! Got ya again! Checkmate!" Ron grinned.  
  
"Aw, I give up." Mike groaned. "Chess is stupid."  
  
"No it's not, not wizard chess. It's better than that muggle thingy you call chess."  
  
"Whatever, you are too good."  
  
Mike got up and walked around impatiently. Finally, fifteen minutes later, the last person went up to bed and we got ourselves ready. I tied my robe tighter around my neck, trembling. I knew I probably wasn't gonna be in that last chamber, but still.  
  
"Hey!" Sara whispered to me, pointing her finger around the group as if counting, ".five, six, seven. We're almost the Fellowship going out on a noble quest. You're still Merry."  
  
"Then who are you? Harry's obviously Frodo."  
  
"I want to be Legolas."  
  
I giggled and marched to the painting opening. I was the second shift. Ron and Hermione were going first.  
  
"You're going out again, aren't you guys?" I spun around, it was Neville, of course.  
  
"N-no, Neville we're not." Harry stammered.  
  
"You can't go out again. You'll get into trouble. You've already lost too many points for Gryffindor. Don't go. I-I'll fight you." He raised his pudgy fists timidly.  
  
This part of the movie always made me cry. Don't ask me why. (Now you parlez vous-francais.) I held back a tear that almost escaped for the pitiful boy who just wanted to be like his brave and bold friends. (Sniff, sniff)  
  
Anyway, Hermione raised her wand.  
  
"Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this." She shut her eyes and said, "Sintrificus Totalus!" Neville's whole body froze and he fell backwards, stiff as a board. Ron and Harry were watching in disbelief. Then they recovered and put on the invisibility cloak, whispering, "It's for your own good, you know." Then they left.  
  
It was a little awkward standing there watching a frozen Neville wiggle his eyes around (because those were the only thing he could move in the full body bind). Harry swiftly came back and took Sara, Mell and me.  
  
We walked slowly, carefully not stepping on anyone's foot. When we stepped cautiously inside the third floor corridor, Sara took out her wooden flute. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched curiously as she started to play.  
  
"The way to tame Fluffy is to get him to fall asleep with music." Mell whispered to them. They nodded in understanding. Sara started a tune that I recognized as "Concerning Hobbits," a pretty tune that made you think of sunshine and running through the fields with the daisies.  
  
We edged toward the sleeping creature.  
  
"We have to move its paw," Mell hissed. We each took a side and shoved it carefully away from the trapdoor. Harry opened it and gulped. It was total darkness down there.  
  
"I'm going first, wait for my yell, then follow me. If something happens to me, get out and send a message to Dumbledore." He slowly lowered himself down so he was hanging by his fingertips. I held my breath.  
  
There was a silence. Sara had stopped playing to get ready to jump. There was a growl and a gargle. We looked up, the dogs had awakened. We all screamed, or at least I did. Harry let himself drop and I clambered down after him.  
  
Now, one of my worst fears is falling. I hate the feeling that your stomach is in your mouth and when you land, something terrible will happen. But I landed with a "flump" on a soft plant. Like rain, we dropped from the little postage-stamp size trapdoor. After recovering from my fear, I jumped off as quickly as possible. Harry was still in though, catching his breath. After we were all down, the ones that knew what we had landed in got off quickly. Hermione got off after us, figuring there was a good reason. Harry, Ron, and Mike were still there gasping for breath.  
  
"Lucky this plant was here to break our fall," Mike panted.  
  
"Lucky?" I shrieked, "Look around you!"  
  
Already the plant had wrapped itself around the boys' legs and arms sneakily.  
  
"It's Devil's Snare!" Hermione remembered, "You guys, remain still and calm, or it'll only kill you faster."  
  
"Kill us faster?" Ron struggled, "Oh now I can relax!"  
  
"Trust me!" Hermione said.  
  
"Yeah, trust her!" Sara, Mell and I echoed.  
  
"Please, just stop moving so much!" Hermione pleaded. The vines and wrapped around Mike's neck now, making him choke and his eyes tear. I gulped.  
  
Harry was the first to get out. He relaxed himself and fell onto the cold floor, gasping.  
  
"Ron! Mike! Come on!" we shouted, beckoning. They were both unable to speak by now.  
  
Hermione seemed to be thinking hard.  
  
"Oh, what is it that Devil's Snare doesn't like? What is it? What is it?" she hammered her fingers on her forehead.  
  
"Doesn't it like cold, wet places?" Sara asked.  
  
"YES! That's it! It hates light!"  
  
"Then get on with it!" Ron screeched.  
  
"Well, yes, but there's no wood!" she panicked, wringing her hands, looking around.  
  
"HERMIONE! Are you a witch or not?" Ron yelped.  
  
"Oh, right." She flung out her wand and whispered the magic words (pun intended). Fire shot out from the tip and flew towards the plant. It shrank away, quietly releasing the two boys from its grip. Gasping on the floor, they slowly stood up. Ron was rolling his eyes, looking angry.  
  
" 'There's no wood!' Honestly!" Hermione glared at him.  
  
We walked in a tight group to the next chamber. Sara had stuck her wooden flute in her belt. She had her wand on the other side. I did the same.  
  
"Look Sara, now I have a little hobbit sword!" I said, swinging my wand around, then sticking it back in my belt. She didn't answer as we entered the next chamber that was filled with a fluttering of wings sound.  
  
"They look like birds!" Harry said.  
  
"No-no, they're keys!" Mike said. I elbowed him in the ribs.  
  
"Let them figure it out!" I hissed, giving him a look.  
  
"Yes, they are keys!" Ron agreed. "Winged keys! I'll bet one of them goes to that door."  
  
He pointed to the door on the other side of the room, about fifty feet away. There were ten brooms laying by the wall on the left. Ron ran to the other side.  
  
"The key is probably silver and old-fashioned, like the handle," he shouted. We each took a broom and flew up, some more steadily than others.  
  
"There!" Hermione shouted, pointing, "The one with the bent wing!"  
  
As soon as she said that, the keys started flying around really fast, like in the movie.  
  
"That complicates things a bit." Mike said, swatting at the keys.  
  
"It's over there!" Mell pointed to the corner. We all stationed ourselves. I got under it, Sara and Mell around it and Mike and Harry above it. After counting to three, we all zoomed towards the silver key. It flew towards Sa and she drove to the wall, slamming her hand over it with a sickening crunch.  
  
Giving a wild whoop, I yelled "Go Sara! Go Sara!"  
  
She sailed down and handed the key to Ron who opened the door. We all came down and went through the next door, closing it quickly as the keys came raining down on us.  
  
It was all dark until we came in and fire was lit on little torches surrounding the room.  
  
"Oh great." I said, looking at the scene. It was the giant chess set.  
  
"It's a chess set!" Ron said. "I'll bet we have to play our way across!"  
  
Huge black pieces about three times the size of me lurked in front of me as I stepped forward. Ron motioned everywhere.  
  
"Now, no offense, but you guys can't really play chess."  
  
"No, no, go ahead." We said in unison.  
  
"I'll be a knight." Ron said, "Harry, you be the queen side castle. Hermione, you can be the king side castle. The rest of you can be pawns."  
  
I walked timidly to the empty square in the front.  
  
"Ron?" Mike asked, "You don't think this is going to be like real wizard's chess, do you?"  
  
"I don't know." Ron looked really pale. "Look, white move's first."  
  
A huge white pawn moved ahead one place.  
  
And so the game began. It scared the living daylights out of us the first time the white queen smashed the head off one of our pawns. After a while, Ron looked perplexed.  
  
"What?" Sara asked.  
  
"Well, um, some of you will have to sacrificed, including me."  
  
I swallowed, shaking. I'll just duck, that's all, I thought, I'll just duck. Sara and Mell got a little pale. Ron shouted the command and I walked over one block. The queen slowly proceeded my way. She swung out her stone sword and lashed at me. I ducked, obviously, and she singed my hair, covering me with dust. I tripped and rolled off the board.  
  
"Oh my God!" someone shouted as the dust cleared.  
  
"I'm okay!" I yelled. I felt a small gash on my forehead from falling forwards. The blood felt sticky on my trembling fingers. Sara leapt off the board as the queen swung at her. Then it was Ron's turn. I saw him shaking uncontrollably, giving the command. His stone horse moved ever slowly towards the queen.  
  
"Check," he whispered hoarsely. The queen came closer and closer to him (cue dramatic music) and swung at him. He couldn't duck so the horse crumbled into pieces and Ron slammed onto the floor cut by the stone fragments. I'm sure we all screamed that time.  
  
"Ron!" Hermione shouted.  
  
"No, don't move!" Harry shouted at her, "Remember we're still playing."  
  
Harry moved towards the king and whispered, "Checkmate."  
  
As the movie, the king's sword fell at Harry's feet. There was a brief silence and we all rushed to Ron's quivering body. He was covered in dust and stone pieces and he seemed alive, but in a faint.  
  
"I'll stay with him." Hermione said immediately.  
  
"But-  
  
"No Harry, the rest of you go on. Mike can stay here and help me get him back up to the hospital wing. Go on."  
  
Harry sighed and stood up. He was covered in dust and his robes were ripped.  
  
"Come on you guys."  
  
Mike stayed behind and picked up Ron. Hermione hugged us all and whispered a faint goodbye.  
  
The next door opened with a creak. A protrude smell filled the air and I was instantly reminded of the toilets at the mall.  
  
"It's a troll," Mell whispered. It seemed to have been passed out, but was stirring, and was starting to get up, grunting.  
  
"Ffssitsck!" an arrow whizzed past my ear and pierced the neck of the troll. I turned around and saw Sara lowering a bow.  
  
"Where on Earth did you get that?" I asked.  
  
"It was on the floor here. Told you I was Legolas." I raised an eyebrow and we stepped over the now dead troll to the next chamber.  
  
It was again dark and there was a small table on the left side wall. As we entered the doors slammed shut and locked. There was no way out. We cautiously stepped over. It's gonna be Snape's thing, I thought, but I was wrong.  
  
There was a picture with a symbol that was lit up in a strange light. The symbol was of a 'w' with little 'wings' on either side of it. We looked at each other confusedly. There was a note on the table. It said,  
  
"Interpret the symbol above and write on the red line below. If correct, only one will be able to enter the next chamber, all others will return through the other door.  
  
Beware the next chamber!"  
  
"I'll go over," Harry said. We all knew he had to be the one anyway, but we nodded.  
  
"Hey, I know what that symbol is!" Mell smiled, laughing. Harry looked over at her, wearily.  
  
"WEEZER!" she yelled and the doors on either side opened.  
  
"All right!" I said. Harry started towards the other door.  
  
"Hey, be careful," I said to Harry before he left. He nodded timidly and turned, entering through the last chamber. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve  
  
So now it was Sara, Mell, and me. The dream team. We went back to the chess room, finding the opposite door open again. Peering through it, we saw Mike, Hermione and the limp Ron in the middle of the chamber with the keys.  
  
"Hey, how's he doing?" I asked, walking over. Ron's head was on Hermione's lap and Mike was sitting next to her, checking Ron's pulse.  
  
"I think he'll be all right." Mike said, standing up.  
  
"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked suddenly, looking back at us.  
  
"He went to the last chamber, only one was allowed to enter. If not, we would of all been there with him."  
  
Hermione seemed ready to freak out, but she held it in and simply said, "I'm afraid for him."  
  
"We all are, Hermione."  
  
There was a silence, broken only by a sob that had escaped from Hermione.  
  
"Well, we'd better get Ron back upstairs." Mike picked up a broom.  
  
"Wait a sec, you don't know how to fly." I said, putting my hands on my hips, giving him a look.  
  
"Oh, right, that," Mike dropped the broom as if it were suddenly on fire.  
  
"You'll just have to get on mine." I sighed wearily. This was gonna be difficult, I thought, swinging a broomstick over my shoulder.  
  
"Here," Sara said, "Mell and I will take Ron on our brooms, side by side. Hermione, you'll have to go by yourself."  
  
Hermione nodded timidly.  
  
We made our way to the Devil's Snare room and got ourselves ready. Sara was late in coming. We waited around for ten minutes until she returned gasping for breath, holding the bow and packet of arrows. I raised an eyebrow at her.  
  
"S-souvenir," she panted. I got on to the top edge of my broom and let Mike on in the back. Sara and Mell laid Ron across their laps as they sat on their brooms and Hermione was gripping tightly to her broom.  
  
Finally, we were ready. Mike and I started first, but soon became last. It was slow work, with all that weight on one broomstick.  
  
"Come on, stupid broomstick!" I muttered, pushing it upwards.  
  
"Uh, Ann." I heard Mike behind me.  
  
"Hush, I'm trying to concentrate."  
  
"ANNIE! I'm falling!" I whirled my head around in time to see Mike grab hold to the end of the stick with his fingers. I reached out and grabbed hold of his hand, before he let go.  
  
"Oh my God, what have you been eating?" I yelped, bending down and feeling the broom going down too. Trying to push up and yank him at the same time wasn't gonna happen. I tried, but no, I had to pull Mike up first. If he fell, we weren't over the huge plant thingy any more, it was cold hard cement floor. I bit my lip and pulled his arm up. He tried to grasp the broom, making it sway.  
  
"Stop it, stop it!" I screamed. I glanced up; the others had gotten to the top already, probably running for Dumbledore, thinking we were behind them.  
  
"Man, Mike, it must have been those three million cinnabons you ate at Easter!" I yelled down at him.  
  
"I only ate TWO!" he yelled back at me, his glasses dangling on his nose. "For the last time," I heard him mutter.  
  
" (another yank) Well, you should've thought about eating them when you were going to be thrown off a broom with only a little girl to pull you up." My arms were killing me.  
  
"You're not little, you're just-just short!"  
  
I guffawed. "Ok, Mike," I glanced up again, only a little further to the trapdoor, if only.  
  
"Come on, Mike, help me!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"I said help me!"  
  
"What do I do?"  
  
"Lose a little weight," I muttered, then yelled, "I don't know, you've got the arm muscles, pull yourself up!"  
  
The floor looked so far down by now and I was only a few yards away from that stupid trapdoor. Mike gave a heave and pulled his shoulders up, bringing the broom down. I gasped, but shouted,  
  
"It's okay! It's okay! Keep going!"  
  
The ceiling shrank a little bit more every time he pulled. I gave one final heave up and he swung his leg over the broom, breathing hard. I panted, keeping my eyes on the little opening on top of me and grasping Mike's hand behind me so he wouldn't all of a sudden fall again.  
  
Closer, and closer, I reached up my hand and caught my fingers on the side of it. I pulled my head through. There was a growl and a swipe and we went hurtling into darkness.  
  
  
  
The light was so bright, I dared not open my eyes. I felt around me. There were soft covers over me and one of my legs had a cast over them. There was a bandage around my head. There was a buzzing in my ears, which I couldn't get rid of and my head throbbed with pain and dizziness. Cautiously, I let my eyes flutter open. I was in the hospital wing and I was lying in a white bed in one of those white nightgowns Madame Pomfrey must have given me. I had a bandage covering my head and a stiff cast that groaned whenever I moved my leg. My knee was all black and blue.  
  
"Jeez, where did I do this?" I murmured, touching the bruise. I couldn't remember how I got here. Why was I here? Where was everyone else? Then a thought came to me. Where was Harry?  
  
I looked around and saw Mike in the bed next to me also dressed in white and he was sleeping or passed out, I couldn't tell. His arm was in a sling and his face was all scratched up. I winced as I swung my head around to look on the other side. There was Harry with a bandage on his hand. He also seemed asleep. He had cuts all over his face and arms. And I remembered why. He was gonna go get the Stone. And he succeeded, right?  
  
I tried sitting up, peering around the bright room for any sign of my friends. Surely they would be here too, they were part of the quest. Ron was lying, definitely asleep and snoring in the bed next to Mike. Sara and Mell were no where to be seen. Surely they did not.  
  
Wondering all this, I lay back in the pillows. If I fell, why didn't I go back to Fairfield? Isn't it that whenever I knocked myself out, I went back to where I started from? It was all very confusing.  
  
A door opened and Madame Pomfrey came in with a huge bar of chocolate. She took a hammer and, slam! Broke off a piece and handed it to me. I swallowed it meekly, feeling a warm sensation from my toes up. Mike stirred next to me. He blinked and rubbed his eyes.  
  
"Where am I?" were his first words.  
  
"You're in the hospital wing, dearie." Madame Pomfrey handed him some chocolate.  
  
"Oh, no thanks, I couldn't."  
  
"Take it, it'll make you feel better." Madame Pomfrey held out his hand and put the hunk of chocolate in for him. "Eat."  
  
The door opened again. Sara and Mell entered, dressed in their Hogwarts robes, still all dirty and dusty and bloody. Dumbledore followed them in, with the usual twinkling in his eyes. I sat up, despite the pain in my head.  
  
"You have a lot of explaining to do you guys." I said. 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen  
  
Sara sat down on the edge of my bed, wiping a sweaty brow.  
  
"Well?" I asked, impatiently. Mell opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. Dumbledore spoke first.  
  
"I had them on an extra adventure for me." I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. A twinge of jealousy started in my chest. Sara started.  
  
"It started when we got back up the trapdoor and past Fluffy. We ran out of the third floor corridor and bumped into Dumbledore. He told us to wait for him while he took Hermione and Ron to the hospital wing."  
  
"And then," Mell cut in, "We were sent back down on our brooms with Dumbledore through the chambers. When we got to the Weezer chamber, Dumbledore did this weird thing and the door flew open and we were all allowed in. By the time we got there, Harry was on the floor with Quirrel over him, crushing his face."  
  
"And his face was all blistered and red," Sara added, "it was really gross. So then we ran towards them. Mell pushed Quirrel off Harry and Dumbledore took him away. While Dumbledore was doing that, Quirrel's whole body simply diminished and crumbled away from Harry's touch. It was scary. Then this phantom that was undoubtedly Voldemort, rose from the clump that was Quirrel and swiveled around us, knocking Harry over and hitting his head. Then it disappeared through the door of the chamber. Afterwards, we had to carry a passed out Harry to here and go to Dumbledore's office."  
  
"And when we got there," Mell continued, "he was talking to a really, really old guy in the fireplace. His head was just sitting there in the flames. It was freaky." Sara nodded in agreement.  
  
"It was obviously Nicholas Flamel. They both decided in a half-hour's time, that the Stone was going to be destroyed. That's where our part came in. Dumbledore sent us hurriedly down to through the trapdoor for the fourth time to the chamber where Quirrel had been. The room when we got there was so creepy and dark. In the middle of the room was a huge cauldron with some type of liquid in it all bubbly and thick. Dumbledore came with us and said some spells and told us to drop the Stone in."  
  
"Oo, let me tell this part!" Sara said, "So Mell dropped it in and the whole thing exploded. Well, not really, the cauldron was still in tact, but the potion inside burst out and created a strange light that illuminated the entire chamber. There was a huge crash that made the room shake. This is why we're covered in dust and stuff. We also got hit by pieces of wood from the ceiling. When the explosion was over, Mell and I peered into the cauldron and it was completely empty! The potion and the Stone were gone! So that's when we limped back up here for the last time and shut the trapdoor. And.here we are!"  
  
I leaned back on my pillows. This was very confusing still. Dumbledore stood behind my friends smiling. I stared back at him.  
  
"Oh, yeah and we found you two down there by the Devil's Snare," Mell said, "You must have rolled off the plant because you would have dead if you hit the plant and it consumed you or if you hit the solid cement floor. So, Dumbledore made these magical stretchers and floated you up to the trapdoor. It was the coolest thing!"  
  
"I think it's time that my patients got a little rest now, Professor." Madame Pomfrey came back putting screens around Mike so he could change into his regular clothes.  
  
"All right, but first I must talk to Harry." Sara and Mell walked over to empty beds, collapsing on them with fatigue.  
  
"Now it is your turn to fully understand this predicament." Dumbledore turned his blue eyes on Harry.  
  
"Can I ask a question?" I interrupted.  
  
"You just did. But you may ask another, if you like."  
  
"Well, when I hit my head from falling from the trapdoor, why didn't I, um," I glanced at Harry who was starting to wake up, "Why didn't I go back to Fairfield?"  
  
"Oh that was me." Dumbledore said, "I kept you here for just a little while longer because you couldn't just end your adventure like that could you? And plus I wasn't finished with you and your friends yet."  
  
"What do you mean, like, you brought me here in the first place?"  
  
"Well, yes, in your fantasy of course, but yes I did send for you."  
  
"Then who brought me to Avonlea?"  
  
"Some books are better left on the shelf."  
  
This really got my curiosity level up. Harry blinked and opened his eyes next to me.  
  
"W-where am I?" he asked, looking around, squinting.  
  
"You are in the hospital wing. And it is ten o'clock on the morning of June 14th, in case you wanted to know." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.  
  
"But the Stone, the Stone!" he cried.  
  
"Yes, Harry, the Stone has been destroyed. No need to worry."  
  
"But, then-Nicholas Flamel, h-he'll-  
  
"Yes, Harry, he will die."  
  
Harry slumped back in his pillows. And then went the whole speech on how love was the thing that saved Harry from Quirrel's evilness and how his mother died to save him. And by the end, I had to admit, I was crying. The look on Harry's face when Dumbledore told him of his mother's love for him was so innocent and small that I just poured.  
  
"Oh, it's really a happy thing, Ann," Dumbledore smiled at me, "But go ahead."  
  
I sniffed, laughing, thinking how stupid I must look.  
  
We got many cards from friends. Harry and the three of us girls got cards from Wood, which were illustrated with moving Quidditch players on the front. They all said, "Get well soon! Your friend, Oliver Wood." Corny, but hey, who cared? I'm sure they both slept with theirs under their pillow. I know I did.  
  
We left the infirmary the following day. Everyone kept looking at us like we were going to pass out at any given moment. Wood told us that they lost horribly to Hufflepuff with no chasers and no seeker. Why did they even play? It would've spared them the humiliation of losing or Wood's humiliation anyway.  
  
We entered the Great Hall as a huge group at the Closing Feast. When we all came through the doors, there was a sudden hush about the room and then slowly people starting talking again, but they kept standing up to look at us. There were Slytherin colored flags and a huge banner of a snake over the teacher's table. Dumbledore stood up and held out his hand for silence.  
  
"Friends, another year is over. And well done to Slytherin for their achieving of the House Cup."  
  
There was cheering from the Slytherin table, Malfoy in particular.  
  
"Yes, yes well done." Dumbledore continued, "But there are some last minute points to dish out."  
  
Everyone got silent, I noticed Malfoy looking confused.  
  
"First to Ann and Mike for their outstanding courage. I award Gryffindor house 30 points." The Gryffindor table cheered jovially.  
  
"Next to Sara and Mell for their help in achieving the impossible. Thirty points."  
  
Sara and Mell high-fived then breathed on their hands and rubbed it on their shirts laughing.  
  
"To Ronald Weasley for playing the best played wizard's chess game this school has seen for quite some time. Thirty points."  
  
Ron turned red and disappeared under the table, Fred and George slapping him on the back.  
  
"To Miss Hermione Granger for the cool use of intellect when others were in danger. Thirty points."  
  
Hermione blushed, biting her lip, grinning.  
  
"To Harry Potter for his incredible courage and bravery. Forty points."  
  
Again the Gryffindor house exploded.  
  
"We're tied with Slytherin!" Hermione hissed. The Gryffindors waited with bated breath.  
  
"And, finally, it takes much courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends," Dumbledore continued, "Therefore, I award Neville Longbottom ten points."  
  
The Gryffindor table this time did explode. Everyone climbed over and made a pile on Neville, hugging him.  
  
"Which means, I think we need a little change of decoration."  
  
The green and silver banners of Slytherin changed into gold and scarlet for Gryffindor and a giant lion was hung over the teacher's table. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students were cheering too because Slytherin finally lost.  
  
And even thought I knew this was all going to happen, it still felt really good.  
  
"Come on, the train's gonna leave soon!" Neville yelled at us. I was standing with Harry, Ron and Hermione and Sara and Mell.  
  
"Maybe you guys can come over one of our houses this summer," Ron suggested. I smiled.  
  
"I would love that, you've no idea, but I'm not sure if that is possible."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because, well, you know, we live in the states and it's very different from here. I live as a muggle."  
  
"Oh." They seemed a little disappointed.  
  
"Well, you'd better get on the train," I said, handing Hermione her bag.  
  
"Aren't you coming on too?"  
  
"No, Dumbledore wanted to see us. So I guess, um, bye."  
  
Sara, Mell and I gave Hermione a hug and went to shake the boys' hands, but they pulled all three of us into a many-armed hug. I turned red, but I said goodbye and they got onto the train.  
  
"Hey, you three quidditch players wouldn't actually leave without saying goodbye, would you?"  
  
I grinned at Sara and Mell and turned around. Oliver Wood was standing in front of us with his arms lifted. I raised my eyebrows a couple times at my friends and we all tried to get there first, knocking him over. We sprawled over the pavement, laughing.  
  
"That was some hug." He said, laughing. I turned even redder, holding in another burst of giggles. We stood up quickly, took one last look at each other and my friends and I walked towards the school, singing "Runnin' On Ice."  
  
Mike was waiting by the gate. We looked at each other and grabbed broomsticks.  
  
"Come on, this is our last time on broomsticks for a while, so grab one, I'm NOT carrying you up to Dumbledore's window!"  
  
We took off, doing loopty-loops over the lake. Mike tried to steady himself, never having flown before by himself. Dumbledore opened his window and let us fly in single file into his room.  
  
"Now, you all know what you are here for, correct?"  
  
We nodded, glumly, remembering.  
  
"Now don't look so glum about it. I have to send you back, you can't stay here forever. But maybe, someday, you may return."  
  
I smiled slightly at this.  
  
"Before you leave though, I have something to give you all." He reached inside his desk and pulled out a handful of something, handing a piece to everyone. It was another charm. I gasped, looking at it. It was a gold charm shaped like the Sorting Hat.  
  
"Wow," I breathed. I felt around my neck and took out my moon charm from Anne. I slipped out of the chain and added the Sorting Hat charm. It looked like the start of something.  
  
"All right now, are you ready?"  
  
"Yes," I whispered with the others.  
  
"We don't have to, like, click our heels or anything, do we?" Mell asked suddenly.  
  
Dumbledore laughed, "No, just stand still." He took out his wand and started circling it, forming a bowl of light on top of us. The light became so bright that I seemed blinded and I squeezed my eyes shut. I felt for Sara's hand, who stood next to me, but I couldn't find it. I seemed to spin very fast and land on my back softly. The air was filled with the sound of talking.  
  
"Ann? Ann? Are you okay?"  
  
I opened my eyes slowly and Sara was kneeling over me. A golden charm hung from her chain shaped like the Sorting Hat. I gasped and stood up. A number of people were looking at us. I was standing by the line of buses at Fairfield High School at the curb.  
  
"Sara, do you remember this time?" She didn't seem to hear me as she pulled me gently towards the school.  
  
"Sara, do you remember?"  
  
She faced me, giving a small smile. I almost screamed with excitement, but clamped my hand over my mouth.  
  
"Are you alright?" she asked me, looking me over brushing off the dirt on my shirt.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. So, you remember all of Hogwarts?"  
  
She held up her charm.  
  
"Would I have this if I didn't?"  
  
"YES!" I cried. "What about Avonlea?"  
  
"Well, no not really, but I think I believe you now."  
  
"It did happen."  
  
"I know. Now we are definitely going to Baker Street, whether you like it or not, uptown girl. You've had your choice for two times, I think it's time to pass the turn around to everyone else."  
  
"Ok, ok." I said.  
  
"You agree with me?" she said in disbelief.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"But you're not supposed to."  
  
"Yes I am."  
  
"No you're not."  
  
"Yes I am."  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"No."  
  
"I'm going to my bus now."  
  
"No, you aren't."  
  
"YES!"  
  
"NO!"  
  
"Bye!"  
  
"Namaarie!"  
  
"Uh, you too!"  
  
THE END (and off to Baker Street.) 


End file.
